Engineering Biology Problems Book (2021, Obninsk Edition)

2.46 A moveable feast. One study shows that strong love for life is a necessary factor for taking care
of one's health [59]. Induced overexpression of endorphin, dopamine or the use of another
endogenous hormonal neurostimulator is theoretically capable of providing short-term pharmaceutical
support. However, it is noted that the body eventually gets used to the new level of stimulation, and
the induced inhibitory effect will require the use of higher doses with reduced efficacy. How can you
prevent habituation in brain cells to the new basal hormone levels?
SOLUTION: The solution to this problem is still being worked on
[59. Cusack, S. A., Thompson, W. J., & Rogers, M. E. (2003). Mental fitness for life: Assessing the
impact of an 8-week mental fitness program on healthy aging. Educational Gerontology, 29(5),
393-403.].
2.47 Burnout. Burnout syndrome is a reaction of the body to long-term occupational stress of
moderate intensity. At the WHO European Conference (2005) it was noted that work-related stress is
a significant issue for about one-third of workers in the European Union. The cost of solving related
mental health problems averages 3-4% of the gross national income. Assuming burnout manifests as a
systemic effect, suggest some possible molecular biological mechanisms of its relief.
SOLUTION: The solution to this problem is still being worked on
2.48 The neuroeconomics of happiness. Problems with supersystems are directly related to the
quantitative parameters that characterize them. With regard to existing systems e.g. national
economies, such a parameter is their growth rate. Recently, economists have increasingly used
quantitative methods to study the level of happiness. Back in the 1970s, economists noted that the
growth of the so-called "level of happiness" reliably correlates with the expectation of future GDP
growth, but in countries with developed economies (i.e. the USA, West Germany, Australia, the
United Kingdom) this effect no longer works (the so-called Easterlin paradox) [60]. Cross-country
studies and nationals surveys show that there is an almost linear relationship between happiness and
the logarithm of income, one that is the same for both the rich and the poor.
Using this model, estimate the scope of radical biopharmaceutical measures to stimulate economic
growth.
SOLUTION: The solution to this problem is still being worked on
[60. Sergey Guriev (NES). Quantitative research on happiness..].
2.49 Cloning-related pharmacy. Humanity is heterogeneous by nature, making it very difficult to
select drug therapies, personalized treatments, and individualized nutrition for two different people.
Costly screening or clinical studies are required, as well as the study of incidents related to individual
phenotypic development. Human cloning opens the door to cost-effective therapies, with standard
drug responses. Assuming that human nature will prove so complex that there will be no other way to
ensure human expansion other than cloning, suggest ways to make differences in appearance that
would not affect important regions of the genome for a standard pharmacological response.
SOLUTION:
Modern studies make it possible to identify the regions of the genome responsible for individual
phenotypic manifestations of various characteristics and patterns of a person's appearance [61]. Thus,
by introducing single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) into the OCA2 and HERC2 genes, you can
get the desired eye color, the polymorphisms in the ASIP / PIGU gene will allow you to choose the
hair color, and in the PAX3, PRDM16, TP63, C5orf50, and COL17A1 genes, to select the appropriate
face shape. Selecting genes for intervention, for which mutations have not been previously shown to
be associated with a personalized pharmacological response, will allow the creation of clones
differing in phenotype that demonstrate standard pharmacological response.
[61. Kayser, M. (2015). Forensic DNA phenotyping: predicting human appearance from crime scene
material for investigative purposes. Forensic Science International: Genetics, 18, 33- 48.].
2.50 Your own normal. Relatively recently, researchers have drawn attention to the importance of
individual variation in what is considered to be “normal” not only in the field of biochemical