Talking Biotech with Dr. Kevin Folta

Insects cause massive losses in human health and agriculture. Scientists have implemented Sterile Insect Technique for over 50 years, a process to suppress populations by introducing genetically-damaged insects into natural settings. Upon mating, the offspring. Scientists have now used gene editing techniques to selectively suppress the Spotted Wing Drosophila, a costly pest in agricultural contexts.  Today's podcast is an interview with Dr. Nikolay Kandul, a scientist working with a team that has used an innovative Cas9/gene editing approach to suppress populations of this devastating and costly invasive pest. The application seeks to cut insecticide use and costs for farmers and consumers. 

While the vast majority of gene editing efforts have been confined to crop plants, animal gene editing holds tremendous promise. Efforts have demonstrated that naturally-occurring alleles could be reconstituted using site-specific nucleases, creating hornless dairy cattle and beef cattle with sex ratios skewed towards a higher proportion of males. These breakthroughs are just a sample of the powerful technology. Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam is a Cooperative Extension Specialist at the University of California Davis. She has been an academic leader in animal genetic engineering and public communication about new technology.  Follow her at @BioBeef on twitter. The podcast also features a conversation with Jilian Hendricks, a graduate student at the University of British Columbia. She is seeking assistance for a scholarly project, and would like to interview a number of scientists about gene editing. Her email is jhendric "at" mail.ubc.ca  

Immunotherapies represent a powerful suite of treatments that co-opt the immune system to target deleterious cellular conditions.  They have been effective with a series of cancers and other disorders. The problem is that development of new antibodies can be challenging for several technical reasons, but also because no two people are alike. Dr. Liang Schweizer of HiFiBio describes how her company is using single-cells and microfluidics to identify new antibodies that may be mobilized against discrete cellular targets, as well as what they have learned about heterogeneity between patients and how to identify specific biomarkers that could guide application of the most effective treatments. 

Dogs are a recent species, and because of their close associations with humans have diverged into hundreds of breeds with specific behaviors, sizes and builds. There also is a great range in life expectancy and anticipated disease.  Dogs therefore provide an excellent model to study aging and aging-related disorders, as well as understand the genetics and associated factors of aging. Celine Halioua, the CEO of Loyal, joins the podcast to discuss research into dog genetics and the factors that influence aging, along with her company's attempts to find drugs that can attenuate the process, and possibly be extended to humans. 

A microbiome is described as a population of bacteria, fungi, protists and viruses that inhabit a specific environment. Animals, including humans, are composed of many microbiomes featuring trillions of microbes. There are different microbiomes found throughout the animal digestive tract, each with important roles in animal digestion, feed conversion, overall health. Dr. Mallory Embree is the co-founder and CSO of Native Microbials. Her company has explored relationships between microbial populations and important animal production and health metrics. They have devised custom mixtures of bacteria and fungi to supplement the diet, with positive results from cattle and chickens, and companion animals like dogs. Their pipeline features multiple products that specifically target aspects of animal husbandry. Their results verify that adjustment of the microbiome can have positive effects on animals, farmer profit, and even enhanced environmental sustainability. 

This week's podcast has two parts. In the first section University of Idaho lactation specialist Dr. Shelley McGuire discusses the recent paper that claims to have found the herbicide glyphosate in breast milk. In the second half Gabe Ignetti from the Ecomodernist Society of North America discusses an environmental movement that embraces science, including biotechnology and nuclear power. 

Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death, but is remarkably treatable if caught early. Unfortunately, because of the invasive nature of the colonoscopy, many elect not to have this procedure done in a regular and timely manner. Colorectal cancers advance from normal cells through several distinct neoplasias, each with distinct patterns of gene expression. Today's guest is Dr. Erica Barnell from Geneoscopy.  They have devised a test to identify evidence of precancerous gene expression in the stool.  This advance makes early detection more feasible, along with a higher likelihood of frequent testing, at a significantly lower cost than outpatient procedures. Genoscopy Information:Website:     www.geneoscopy.comLinkedIn:     @GeneoscopyTwitter:        @GeneoscopyCo    Facebook:  @GeneoscopyCo

The foundation of many modern consumer products begins with petroleum. Fossil fuels contain the building blocks of higher-complexity polymers, and are used in the creation of everything from high performance plastics in medical devices to your computer screen. But using petroleum use is not sustainable and has impacts in climate and pollution. What if the same molecular polymer backbones could be produced using biological organisms? Dr. Scott Franklin from Checkerspot explains how microalgae are being used to manufacture the fundamental building blocks of high performance polymers in a system that creates zero waste. These chemical backbones are used to create high-performance polymers that are fashioned into sporting goods for consumers interested in sustainability. 

Injury to organs frequently results in impaired function due to the formation of scar tissue. Heart attacks and chronic high blood pressure can induce the formation of pathogenic fibroblasts, cells that lose their original function, yet maintain some structural element of the injured tissue. The formation of fibrogenic tissue affects a significant portion of the population, and contributes to decline associated with many diseases, such as congestive heart failure or liver cirrhosis. A new technology uses targeted lipid nanoparticles to reprogram T-cells to attack pathogenic fibroblasts.  

Prion disorders are rare neurological diseases where a protein within the nervous system converts to a pathological form. The change in conformation affects other proteins, recruiting them to the misshapen, deleterious type. Chronic wasting disease is a neurological disease of deer, caused by prion conversion. In this episode Dr. Sandra Pritzkow from University of Texas Health - Houston describes prion related disease, and specifically the atypical transmission elements of chronic wasting disease.