Engineering Biology Problems Book (2021, Obninsk Edition)

Figure 3.1. Nordic poultry © Simon Stalenhag, Sweden
3.6. Virus of intelligence. In some cases, it would be nice if the animals could clearly understand
commands or even words. It was shown that an artificial increase in the expression of the KIF17
protein in mice allowed them to pass the proposed tests faster and to memorize better than the control
group. In this area, a radical technological solution is the excision of the entire gene sequence with
regulatory regions in humans and the formation of an artificial chromosome of an animal (for
example, the 20th "mind chromosome" of a cat). However, it seems that a significant effect can be
achieved using a non-pathogenic virus with a rather large cassette. Suggest viruses based on which
such a "virus of intelligence" could be constructed?
SOLUTION:
The solution to the problem is under development.
3.7. Inhibitors of consciousness. Nowadays, it is planned to use genetically engineered animals for
growing human organs, such as mini-pigs, from which HLA-complex is removed via endogenous
retroviruses and replaced (for example, in the company eGenesis). On the other hand, the organ bud
approach is a collection of methods for fabricating tissue-engineered constructs, in which human or
animal body cavities are used as a bioreactor at the last stage of morphogenesis. Thus, the
development of therapeutic cloning technologies, the evolution of animals, and large-scale genetic
engineering interventions will ultimately lead to the ethical problem of precisely determining the
presence of consciousness in a living being. For example, proteomic profiles of some proteins of the
nervous system could become such a marker of consciousness. Suggest schemes for inhibiting the
expression of a wide class of proteins to ensure the lack of consciousness of the laboratory animal.
SOLUTION:
The solution to the problem is under development.
3.8. Friendly nature. In March 2014, Lisenne Frunn and her friend Chris Kremers, nationals of the
Netherlands, went on an ethnographic journey to Panama. They were not prepared for traveling in
conditions of jungle, and they got lost and died horribly. Suggest what functions a person should have
at hand anywhere on the planet so that travel in the wildest areas does not lead to the death of even a
child.
SOLUTION:
The solution to the problem is under development.
3.9. Additional animal brain and its interfaces. Primitive parasites can often control the behavior of
their more highly organized hosts. For example, it is beneficial for a parasite that lives on only one
species to protect its hosts: for example, to drive the fish into a dense flock for their own safety,
having received an additional benefit from this - the proximity of a mating partner traveling on a
neighboring host individual. Develop a scheme for transplanting a parasitic neurosystem into a
transgenic animal with specialized decision-making functions, including maintaining life after brain
loss.
SOLUTION:
The solution to the problem is under development.