Consumer genetics is here, and it seems unlikely to disappear anytime soon. In fact, the next generation of consumer genetics products may very well be complete genomic sequencing, as promised by Complete Genomics, and even Illumina.

Although we may be decades away from it (or maybe only years), we will one day be confronted by some form of genetic identity theft. What does this mean, and how will this happen? Let me explain.

How can my genes be stolen?

My genes are unique to me, and there is essentially a 0% chance that anyone else in the world has the exact set of As Cs Gs and Ts as I do (with the exception of identical twins). How could someone possibly steal my genetic profile?

In the not so distant future, any cellular sample may be viable for complete DNA sequencing. For instance, after enjoying a nice lunch at the diner, leaving behind just one strand of hair may be enough for a stalker/mad scientist to determine your entire DNA sequence. They would have the entire blueprint of you.

What can be done with stolen genes?

Okay, so someone may steal and sequence my DNA, but what good does that do them?

Right now, nothing. They might learn that you carry a mutated version of the HFE gene and may potentially have a child afflicted with Hemochromatosis. Even worse, they could find out that there is a 70% chance that you are lactose intolerant!

In the future, the chimeric child of DNA sequencing, Stem Cell Research, Developmental Biology, and Cellular Reprogramming would allow for someone to derive stem cells from your one strand of hair. These stem cells might then be transformed into sperm or egg precursors, and  these cells would essentially allow anyone to have a child with you (without you). Think of the market for a service that advertises to prospective mothers: “Have a baby with Brad Pitt!” It’s actually kind of creepy.

It gets worse, and more obsessive. What if said “crazy Brad Pitt fan” decided that  having Brad Pitt’s child was not enough. No. She wanted more…she wants Brad Pitt for a child! Stealing Brad’s DNA, sequencing it, and reprogramming cells with his DNA would allow for the creation of a Brad Pitt embryo. An in vitro fertilization procedure later, and Brad Pitt’s ultimate fan can now also be his mother (to crazy fan: seriously, don’t do this…running a fan website is enough devotion).

Holy $h*t That’s Messed Up! How Can I Prevent This (esp. if I am Mr. Pitt)?

Truthfully, this is not something you have to worry about right now. The technology just is not there yet, although all methods necessary for something like this to happen are either developed or in development.

When we do reach the point where this is a real possibility, I cannot think of any way to stop someone who was committed enough to having your child (or you as their child). Maybe you can hire a personal assistant to walk around and make sure that all strands of hair, saliva and any other DNA containing materials are properly collected and destroyed.

Only with the extreme case of celebrities can I imagine there being a “black market” for stolen DNA, and even then, I doubt demand would be high enough to fuel such an industry. However, I will never say never when predicting the future in this field. To all celebrities out there: Let me know when you get that phone call, “So I’m your mother…sort of.” I give it 5-10 years.

In 1993, Steven Spielberg captured audiences with his prehistoric thriller, “Jurassic Park.” Using fossilized DNA, scientists were able to bring back to life the once extinct dinosaurs. The amazing thing about this movie is that the scientific achievement that was a prerequisite to reanimating extinct creatures was not realized until a full three years later.

The Advent of Cloning

In July of 1996, Ian Wilmut and colleagues at the Roslin Institue in Scotland successfully cloned Dolly the Sheep, by reprogramming an adult mammary gland cell into an embryo through a process known as somatic cell nuclear transfer. The creation of an organism from an adult cell opened the door for a whole new variety of techniques and processes that have become essential to modern biology and genetics.

Dolly proved to the scientific community that a complete organism can be created from the genetic material obtained from ANYWHERE in the organism’s body. The basic method for “cloning” can be broken into three steps: 1. Obtain DNA that specifies the organism you wish to clone. 2. Transfer DNA into enucleated oocyte for reprogramming. 3. Transfer reprogrammed cell into surrogate mother for implantation and fetal development.

Bring Back the Dead: Consumer Cloning

What did I just say?! It’s not like you think, I swear. You cannot bring back your lost relatives. Even if you clone your dead loved ones, there is no way (currently) to recreate the memories and experiences that will have shaped the person that you once knew. So, even though the clone will look exactly alike, they are not the same person as your loved one. Also, when a cloning takes place, the person is “born” just like any other baby, and they must grow and mature just like any human being. There is currently no way of speeding up the process of growing up.

Is cloning publicly available? Yes. Not for humans. Congress, republicans and democrats alike, would have a field day with that one. However, commercial cloning is available for man’s best friend. Up until September of 2009, BioArts International offered commercial cloning of a pet cat or dog to niche consumers for the lofty price of $150,000. However, they recently closed their doors because of, among many reasons, competition from RNL Bio, a South Korean Stem Cell Company which has begun to offer the same service.

As explained by Lou Hawthorne, the CEO of BioArts International, the market size for cloned pets does not seem to be that large right now. However, it is still a developing technology, and one day it may be offered at the right price with the right market exposure. BioArts International, successfully cloned seven dogs for consumers throughout its product offering. The take home message: cloning is commercially available, although not popularized just yet.

Bring Back the Long Dead: Extinct Species

Jurassic Park was a visionary movie because it described a scientific process that was not yet possible at its time. However, we are closer now than ever to being able to bring back dead species. Let’s look at the Wooly Mammoth as a case study.

The Wooly Mammoth, also known as the tundra mammoth, is suspected to have vanished around 8,000 BCE likely due to the warming of their climate. Unlike many extinct species, the wooly mammoth remains have, in many cases, been organically preserved due to their frozen environment and the large size of the animal. Organic preservation has allowed scientists to study much of the mammoth DNA, and leads many to claim that cloning of the mammoth will one day be possible. Despite the preservation of dead mammoth, extracting the DNA and rebuilding the genome is an ongoing process.

How will this cloning occur? Scientists hope that they will be able to salvage whole cells of preserved mammoth DNA from frozen mammoth cells. While more recent attempts at this have not yielded completely salvageable genomes, many parts of the mammoth genome including the complete sequence of a mitochondrial DNA have been determined. From this information alone, it has been concluded that the wooly mammoth is more closely related to the Asian elephant than it is to the African elephant.

Who will be the surrogate mother of the wooly mammoth? The Asian elephant of course. Although the two species diverged several thousand years ago, it is suspected that the Wooly Mammoth and the Asian elephant are still genetically similar enough such that one can carry the offspring of another. Scientists at Penn State University believe they have mapped more than 50% of the mammoth genome. Once this is complete, reprogramming and surrogacy will likely allow for cloning.

When will we see this creature roaming the planet? Pretty soon I hope. We’ll be able to pay admission at Jurassic Park, which will likely be located on a remote island in Japan. Just remember to bring your shotgun!

Fantasy Becomes Reality: Creating Unicorns

Genetic engineering will not be limited to the cloning of dead dogs and the rebirth of extinct species. By attaining an understanding of the development of all species, one day, the creation of new species may be possible. Note: If you believe this counts as “playing God” then you should not be reading this blog.

The unicorn will be our case study here. What is a unicorn? Essentially, it is a white horse with a horn on its head. According to a survey of five year old girls, some unicorns have wings, and some have magical rainbows follow them. We’ll stick with a white horn for now.

We already know where to find white horses, but where do we find a horn? Thousands of creatures have horns: deer, antelope, some lizards. After doing some research, I have decided that the horn that best fits the description of the unicorn horn is the horn of a Narwhal. From here, we get the following equation:

White Horse + Narwhal = Unicorn

Okay, so how do we make this equation into reality? One answer: Get yourself a white horse, capture a narwhal, cut off the narwhal’s horn, and glue it onto the horse’s head! Simple. But not what we’re looking for.

Figuring out how to make a unicorn species will be difficult. It will require knowing exactly what set of genes contribute to the development of the narwhal horn, and exactly where these genes would be able to create a horn (in the proper location) for a unicorn. There will not simply be a copy and paste ability, but eventually through experimentation and trial and error, I believe that a unicorn species can be created which develops a horn on its own. Any horse can be the host species (for surrogacy) since the unicorn will be related enough genetically. This technology is a bit further in the future, but I believe it will be a possibility.

Once someone solves the unicorn, we can move onto other legendary creatures like cerberus, the sphinx, and all manners of chimera. Imagine a chihuahua with wings! It will be studies in genomics, cellular reprogramming, and developmental biology that will unlock pandora’s box and enable legendary creatures to be born.

In 1997, the movie Gattaca made a splash due to its extension of themes covered in “Brave New World.” It takes place in the future where most children are born through a process (not genetic engineering in the scientific sense) where the optimal combination of genes between two individuals is selected in an embryo to give birth to children that are smarter, better looking, and more athletic than the natural, or “faith born” children. The “genetically superior” are put above the faith born, and a class system emerges based on who has better genes.

Personally, I find this movie fascinating for a number of reasons. First of all, the science they describe is not very far outside the realm of current possibilities. Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD), the process where embryos are diagnosed for chromosomal abnormalities and certain diseases, is a common practice for couples undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). Secondly, the movie highlights the fact that PGD is a technology that couples will want to use. Given the option, who wouldn’t try to avoid having their child carry a negative version of the ApoE gene (increasing the risk of Alzheimer’s), the BRCA gene (increasing the risk for breast cancer), or the multitude of other simple genetic diseases that are out there (cystic fibrosis, tay sachs, hemochromatosis, sickle-cell anemia, cooley’s anemia, and the list goes on).

So now we are faced with the question: could the situation described in Gattaca, where a higher class of the genetically superior exists above a lower class of the “faith born,” ever become reality? My answer is NO for a number of reasons.

First of all, the number of embryos that can be diagnosed in one round of PGD is limited by the number of eggs a woman can produce. For me, this is the most convincing argument as to why “genetically optimized” babies will never be a realistic phenomenon. Let’s look at gene selection through PGD. If we know that the mother carries a negative version of the BRCA gene (let’s assume the father does not), then there is a 50% chance (basic Mendelian inheritance) that any embryo created by these two individuals will carry a negative BRCA gene.

Okay, so given two embryos, we would expect there to be one embryo that met the requirements of not carrying a negative BRCA gene. That’s fine. Now let’s add another gene to the list. ApoE: the father carries one copy of the negative ApoE allele. Again, 50% of the embryos will carry a negative ApoE gene. But wait: we’re faced with a problem now. By combining the requirement that the embryo we want should not carry a negative BRCA nor a negative ApoE gene, we are reducing the number of embryos that fit the bill to 25%. That means that out of four embryos, statistically we would only expect one of them to be clear of both negative ApoE and BRCA genes.

Now we can see the limitations, selecting for one gene dictates that we need two embryos to choose from. Selecting for two genes dictates that we need 2² = 4 embryos to choose from, and selecting for 3 genes will require that we have at least 2³ = 8 embryos to choose from.

Due to the fact that there is an exponential increase in the number of embryos required in selecting one that has the “preferred” version of each gene, PGD is actually limited to the number of embryos that can be produced. Currently, when a couple goes in for IVF, the woman must undergo hormone therapy to stimulate the production of more eggs. According to one source, on average 5-15 eggs are retrieved with on cycle of treatment from a reproductive endocrinologist. With a limit of up to 15 embryos, it is unlikely that more than four genes can be selected together to produce a “genetically perfect” baby. If you wanted to control the inheritance of a mere 15 genetic loci, the odds of you finding an embryo that matched your requirements would be 1/(2^15), or 0.31%.

In “Gattaca”, the reproductive technologist informed the couple that all genes were optimized. There are thousands upon thousands of genes in the human genome. You have a better chance of winning the lottery than finding one out of 15 embryos that contains every preferred version of every gene from each parent. Rest assured ladies and gentlemen, you will not be seeing any perfect children for quite a while (except for your own of course).