Synthetic biologist aims to create pig with human lungs

By Lisa M. Krieger lkrieger@mercurynews.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- In a provocative cross-species experiment, scientists are striving to rewrite the pig genome so the animal grows lungs that could be transplanted into humans.

"We are re-engineering the pig, changing its genetic code," said genome pioneer Craig Venter at SynBioBeta 2014, an annual synthetic biology conference in San Francisco. "If we succeed with rewriting the pig genome, we will have replacement organs for those who need them," he said Friday.

His team at Synthetic Genomics is designing the project, he said, creating on computers the code needed to build the hybrid. By changing as few as five genes, they have created lungs that survived for a year in baboons, he said.

In other major news at the conference, Google confirmed that Stanford University bioengineer Drew Endy has joined its team at the secretive Google X, which created such projects as Google Glass, driverless cars and high-altitude Wi-Fi balloons.

The hiring of Endy, brought to Stanford's School of Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, suggests that Google seeks to explore the design and construction of made-to-order organisms.

Led by scientists like Venter and Endy, the once-fledgling field of synthetic biology has surged in commercial interest, according to SynBioBeta founder John Cumbers. Synthetic biology companies raised more than $500 million in 2014, and at least 20 startups were launched.

Venter is a La Jolla-based entrepreneur and molecular biologist who gained fame in a historic race with government scientists to decode the human genome.

In the Mojave Desert, he is testing a device that he says can help find extraterrestrial life on Mars by detecting and decoding its DNA -- then fax back the code.

The downloaded data could be used to reconstruct the alien organism in bio-secure labs, he said.

See the rest here:
Synthetic biologist aims to create pig with human lungs