I have always loved to be in the water. Ever since I was a kid the running joke was that I had better coordination when I was in the water versus on land. It’s safe to say that my two biggest passions are swimming and science, which is why I am thrilled to write about World Ocean Day coming up on June 8th! I wanted to talk about a couple of really interesting biotechnology staples that have stemmed from aquatic life and research, from GFP to skin cancer research, life under the sea has without a doubt made a splash in the science community.
Aequorea victoria
First up on our list is the crystal jelly, Aequorea victoria, a small bioluminescent jellyfish species found in the coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean! Though small (only 3-4 inches across), the crystal jelly has left its legacy thanks to its natural glow, which led to the discovery of one of biotech’s greatest tools – Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP). Aequorea victoria produces bioluminescence using two proteins: Aequorin and GFP. Aequorin is a blue light emitting protein that glows in the presence of calcium ions, while GFP will absorb that blue light from aequorin and emit it as green fluorescence! This process is really cool because it means that the crystal jelly doesn’t just glow green, it uses a blue to green light relay system to glow green.
GFP was isolated from Aequorea victoria in 1960’s by Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie, and Roger Tsien, who found that the protein could be expressed in virtually any organism. Since then, GFP has allowed us to do things like tracking gene expression visually, label cells and proteins inside living organisms, observe real-time cellular processes, and study protein localization, trafficking, and interactions without having to kill or fix the cells. Today, GFP is used in a multitude of ways including CRISPR editing validation, stem cell and cancer research, fluorescent microscopy and imaging, and of course, bacterial transformation! Here at Edvotek we love to use GFP in a multitude of kits, from transformations (Kit 222), to colony PCR (Kit 323) to CRISPR simulations (Kit 308), there is a kit that any classroom can use to explore and enhance their understanding of the uses of GFP!
Oil-Eating Bacteria
Ocean oil spills can be catastrophic to marine life, as we saw with the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 which released millions of gallons of crude oil into marine environments. And while we do have mechanical ways of containing and cleaning these oil spills with booms and dispersants, there are a group of bacteria that can aid in the cleanup as well. Hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria are bacteria that specialize in breaking down hydrocarbons, the major component of oil. These bacteria are naturally occurring in the ocean at low levels, and bloom when there’s a major influx of oil. They breakdown oil by using chemosensing to detect hydrocarbons in their environment. They then attach to oil droplets using surface binding proteins and biosurfactants, followed by the secretion of enzymes like monooxygenases and dioxygenases that break down the hydrocarbons into smaller, digestible components. They will then use the broken-down hydrocarbons as an energy source, essentially eating the oil!
Alcanivorax borkumensis is a well-known hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria that can break down alkanes, a major component found in crude oil. This bacterium becomes dominant in oil-polluted waters if nitrogen and phosphorus are available. During the Deepwater Horizon aftermath, fertilizers were added to spike the population of Alcanivorax borkumensis, highlighting how we can boost natural cleanup with targeted support! Pseudomonas putida while technically a soil bacterium, has also shown promise with its ability to degrade toluene, benzene, and other aromatic hydrocarbons. It is a versatile and resilient bacterium frequently used in synthetic biology to enhance bioremediation capacity. There is also Marinobacter hydrocarboclasticus, a marine bacterium that thrives in salty environments and are efficient in degrading a broad range of hydrocarbons. These bacteria are often found in oil contaminated sediments and sea water. To explore more about oil-eating bacteria, checkout our Kit 956: Bioremediation by Oil Eating Bacteria!
Zebrafish
While this cute little fish stems from freshwater rivers in South Asia, it has had a tremendous impact in scientific research and has become one of the top model organisms used in the biotech field. These little fish, characterized by their clear skin and blue stripes, are used in a multitude of ways. Their CRISPR compatibility has made them one of the top model organisms for gene editing, fluorescent lineage tracing with GFP, and even mosaic gene expression. Zebrafish share roughly 70% of human genes, and over 80% of genes linked to human disease, which has made them a great candidate for studying human diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and neurological conditions; they have also been used in drug screening and toxicology studies!
Zebrafish have made a considerable contribution to skin cancer research, specifically with studying melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer that starts in melanocytes (the cells that produce our skins pigment). They make great skin cancer models because of their visible melanocytes (their dark stripes), their transparent skin, and a genome that can be edited to mimic human melanoma. This mix makes the zebrafish an ideal model for visualizing skin cancer in real time, allowing scientist to study tumor progression in real time, even tracking tumor movement with fluorescent tags (GFP yet again!). Zebrafish models of melanoma have helped scientists to identify drivers of melanoma progression, study UV-induced DNA damage and how it affects melanocytes, develop targeted therapies, and reveal the role of the immune system in tumor growth. Neat right?! If you’d like to learn more about cancer, check out Kit 990: Morphology of Cancer Cells or Kit 115: Cancer Gene Detection, or if you’re interested in skin cancer specifically check out Kit 957: Blinded by the Light: UV Rays and DNA Damage.
I hope that you have enjoyed learning about some of the great scientific technologies and advancements powered by aquatic life, and don’t forget to splash around on June 8th for World Ocean Day!
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