Bio Zero by Da Wy

MDEF 2020/2021 | David Wyss

BIO ZERO

Designing with nature in mind

BIOLOGY ZERO

CONTENTS

DAVID WYSS

01 Why?

05 04

02 Biology Where it all started

New Technologies in Synthetic Biology

Biochemistry

Central Dogma of Biology

Metabolism

05 06

And now what?

03 Biotechnology

06 10 11

04 Microbiology

Cellulary Biology

Appendix

Scientific Method

Sources

BIOLOGY ZERO

Why?

Biology Zero Biology was never one of my favourite subjects back in school. Although it wasn’t a subject that I did not like, it was just something that was not relevant for my future career at that time. ‘Bio Zero’ allowed me to refresh the existing knowledge and complement it by learning more about the often ‘so distant world of science’. It was an intense and challenging week, where Nuria and Jonathan let us dive into main insights and key concepts of biology. Throughout the week, the scientific language paired with the complexity of the topic and lack of breaking down this complexity led to many personal frustrations. The difficulty of not fully understanding the explained concepts and not getting a sense of their interconnections made it hard for me to follow the classes and understand the bigger picture of biology. As a result of this week, I had to take a step back, unpack its complexity and find a way to address all the information in a more relatable and comprehensive way. As I started simplifying and summarizing key learnings, I thought that the creation of a scientific journal would be a way to make science with all its complexity more accessible for me but also for others. ‘Biology Zero - Designing with Nature in mind’ includes five chapters helping better understand the scientific world of biology and how we as designers can integrate this knowledge to achieve better ecological performance.

DAVID WYSS

BIOLOGY ZERO

Genetics

Botany

Biotechnology

Cellular Biology Histology

Zoology

Pharmacology

Env. Biology

Molecular Biology

Paleontology

Microbiologie

Bioeconomics

Embyology

Biophysics

Parasitology

Anatomy

Biochemistry

Taxonomy

Entomology

Sociobiology

Morphology

Biomathematics

Physiology Immunology

DAVID WYSS

BIOLOGY \ bī-’ä-le-jē \

A branch of knowledge that deals with living organisms and vital processes.

Biology is known as the ‘science of life’, a field in science where biologists primarily focus studying the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution as well as the distribution of living organisms - in fact all aspects of modern human life. There are many different branches of biology, each of which consists of multiple different subfields. To start breaking down boundaries between biology, design and technology, ‘Bio Zero’ focuses on four key areas: Biotechnology, Microbiology, Biochemistry and Cellular Biology.

BIOLOGY ZERO

Where it all started

Anthropocene = We call the time in which we are living in ‘Anthropocene’. A time in which we as humans are having a significant impact on earth’s ecosystem.

DAVID WYSS

Scales of Life

Big Bang

Molecules

Multicellular organism

Light elements

Macromolecus

Physiologie

Atoms

Cells

Cultural evolution

Life on earth has changed throughout time. The biological evolution of life documents that over millions of generations, living things have been diversified and have been evolved from one species into many others. Meaning that all living things are related to one another through a substantial degree of common ancestry with earlier life forms. The diagram above visualises the biological evolution and highlights the different scales that took place, originating from the Big Bang evolving into the complex system of humans. The Evogeneao Tree of Life diagram shows all major and some of the minor branches of life tied to the geologic time scale. It can be found here: Evogeneao Tree of Life

Life on earth has changed throughout time. The biological evolution of10 life documents that over millions of generations, living BIOLOGY ZERO things have been diversified and have been evolved from one species into many others. Meaning that all living things are related to one another through a substantial degree of common ancestry with earlier life forms. The diagram visualises this biological evolution and highlights the different transitions that took place, originating from the Big Bang evolving to the complex system of humans.

BIOTECHNOLOGY

Biotechnology is a broad term in Biology, primarily covering biological systems and living organisms to create and develop new products. One relevant discipline within Biotech is Synthetic Biology. Synthetic Biology applies design and engineering principles, by using and applying a set of concepts, approaches and tools that enable the modification and/or creation of biological organisms. One essence is that synthetic biology ‘aims to improve the process of genetic engineering’, changing today’s surrealism into tomorrow’s realities.

Life = Piece of information that is able to modify itself over time.

New Technologies used in Synthetic Biology:

DAVID WYSS

Genetic Engineering (CRISPR-Cas9)

Using Biotechnology to directly manipulate or modify genes (e.g. to increase size, life-span) of an organism. One example of genetic engineering is CRISPR-Cas9 that can be used to remove or edit parts of the genome through adding or altering sections of the DNA sequence. REFLECTION:

“When I grew up, the idea of modifying human DNA was not on yet on the radars. But engineering and modifying DNA has become a reality: While researchers in the U.S. have begun editing adults’ genes with devastating diseases, Chinese have launched various trials of CRISPR in humans. Gene therapy is expected to soon be a treatment option for intractable diseases. But despite the wide range of benefits, developments in Biotechnology come with ethical controversy in different areas of concern, such as liberty, justice, safety or environmental and human nature. Beyond just editing genes for intractable disease, individuals might be able to use these techniques to improve their own well-being, happiness or efficiency. If these expensive technologies are only available to the rich, this might end in an increasingly high gap to the middle class and poor. As developments in the field of science and technologies are moving incredibly fast, it is crucial to further discuss their implications and consequences. As already Francis Fukuyama has outlined in his book “Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnological Revolution”, human beings should not slave themselves to inevitable technological progress when such progress is not going to serve human ends. Governments and policy makers need therefore to keep up with the changes, in order to manage them and make sure benefits are distributed in a fair and responsible way.”

Biohacker Movement (DIY)

A movement open to everyone (open platform) allowing citizens to experiment with biology outside of the professional lab settings and take ownership towards ecological damage. Examples of DIY labs are Genspace, Hackteria.org, Gaudilab and Bio curious. REFLECTION:

“Scientific research has long been perceived as something far away from us, a field of research that has been exclusive for scientific labs and bigger corporations. With DIY Bio, the practice offers a new way of introducing biology and biotechnology to a wider audience. DIY Bio connects individuals more closely to science and allows them to be part of scientific research and exploration processes. In an interview with the Wired Magazine, Bill Gates made people aware of the potential of DIY Bio: ‘If you want to change the world in some big way that’s where you should start—biological molecules.’ As designers, DIY bio allows us to better understand the biological origin, composition and function of the materials we work with. We are no longer just exploring with the final form - we can now be part of its actual process. Understanding the processes involved in biochemistry allows us not only to understand but see and feel how materials work, how they can be combined with other materials, and how they react under various circumstances.”

BIOLOGY ZERO

MICROBIOLOGY Microbiology is the study of the microscopic, invisible organisms. These microscopic organisms are defined as ‘living organisms’ with either a single cell or a cell cluster. Microbiology classifies different types of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, archaea, fungi & protozoa) that are all vitally important to the processes on earth, as they affect every aspect of our lives. CELLULAR BIOLOGY Within each of these living organism, there are cells. The study of a cell’s structure and its function falls under Cellular Biology. Cellular Biology emcompasses two main groups of cells:

CELL MEMBRANE

Skin like structure on the outside of a cell that controls what enters and leaves the cell

Prokaryotic cells

Simple cells that do not have an enclosed cell nucleus and lack membrane-bound organelles. Examples include bacteria (either gram positive or negative).

Eukaryotic cells

‘Unicellular’ or ‘multicellular’ cells which have a true nucleus and contain membrane bound organelles. Examples include worms, protozoa, fungi and yeasts.

How microorganisms can be identified: 1) Take a sample of interest 2) Know about respiration, nutritional & temperature 3) Prepare an auxetic medium and strick the sample to the medium 4) Look for the colony shape, by using microscopic observation and a microbial sequencing method

MITOCHONDRIA Supplies energy to the cell through a process called cellular respiration

RIBOSOMES

In Ribosomes, proteins are made. They’re used to build, repair and reproduce in a cell

DAVID WYSS

Living Organism = An organism refers to a living thing that has an organized structure, can react to a stimuli, reproduce, grow, adapt, maintain homeostasis and pass their traits onto their offspring. A living organism can be any animal, plant, fungus, protist, bacterium, or archaeon.

NUCLEUS Barcelona: Tool both

The nucleus is the part that houses a cellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s genetic material in the form of DNA

CYTOPLASM Barcelona: City Hall

ENDOPLSASMIC RET.

Barcelona: BCN Energia

Proteins & other materials are transported along the ER to get them from one to another place in the cell

Barcelona: Local SMEs

Barcelona: Public spaces

VACUOLES Barcelona: Subway

GOLGI APPARATUS

Receives proteins & other materials from the ER, and packages/delivers them to other parts of the cell

Jelly like material that fills up the cell. All other organelles are contained in the cytoplasm

Store food (food vacuole) & water (water vacuole) for the cell

Barcelona: Supermercat

LYSOSOMES Barcelona: Correos

Break down food molecules and old cell parts to be reused

Barcelona: Centre de Triatge

There have been various documentations that cells share many similarities with cities. From cell membrane to lysosomes, the visualisation above outlines similarities between a cellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s structure and the infrastructure of Barcelona.

BIOLOGY ZERO

BIOCHEMISTRY Biochemistry uses chemistry to study the biological processes. It involves the study of the building blocks of living organisms, the so-called macromolecules. These macromolecules built from smaller organic molecules (monomers) include proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and nucleic acids. All together providing the structure of cells and performing many of the functions associated with life. Biochemistry covers how these macromolecules are produced, how they interact with each other and what their function is within an organism. Macromolecule

Monomer

Usage

Examples

Proteins

Amino acids

Storage; Signals; Structural; Contractile; Defensive; Enzyme; Transport; Receptors

Enzymes, some hormones

Lipids

Fatty acid & glycerol

Energy storage; Protection; Chemi- Butter, oil, cholesterol, cal messengers; Repel water beeswax

Carbohydrates

Monosaccharides

Energy storage; Structure

Glucose, Fructose, Starch, Glycogen, Cellulose

Nucleid Acids

Nucleotides

Genetic information

DNA, RNA

-cell component-

-building blocks-

-array of functions-

-e.g. of macromolecules-

For a more in-depth analysis and additional visualisations, please visit:

Macromolecules | Biology library | Science

Central Dogma of Biology Describes the conversion of information from a gene sequence (DNA) into the final product of a protein (Epigenetics = Fine-tuning of CdoB, without changing DNA sequence)

Transcription

DNA

DNA unwraps into two strains RNA Polimerase copies strain Transcription into RNA

Translation

RNA

Ribosomes translate 3 nucleotides Bond between amino acids Code becomes protein

Protein

DAVID WYSS

*Visualization only shows an extract of all complex reactions of the metabolism. The more detailed map can be found here: Human metabolsim

metabolism =

Highly complex and unevolvable system

ÂŠArmando Hasudungan

Metabolism summarizes all chemical reactions involved in maintaining the living state of the cells and an living organism. Through the process of converting food and respiration into energy, we are able to be alive, to build and repair body tissues and can function the way we do. The metabolism relies upon nutrients to supply relevant energy and necessary chemicals, and can be divided into two categories: Catabolism: Catabolism is the breakdown process of molecules (e.g. food digestion) to release energy and create ATP. In every living cell, there is a crucial biological process called respiration. Anabolism: Anabolism centers around growth. By requiring an input of energy (ATP), bond-making processes of small, simple molecules form larger macromolecules.

There are many processes happening simultaneously in a very complicated system. While some happen automatically, other more complex processes depend on enzymes. Enzymes are able to accelerate and catalyze chemical reactions more efficiently. Similar to the metabolism of humans, plants do photosynthesis instead.

BIOLOGY ZERO

AND NOW WHAT? What if we dive into the world of science and engage in biological methods and techniques? What if we start engaging with materials and their life cycles in new, more personal ways? What if we start from at 0 rather exploring with final forms? DYI Biology helps to learn about resources and allows us to better understand the shapes, procedures and process of the materials weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re working with. This can lead to not only a better understanding of materials, their origin and specific characteristics, it also helps reduce distance and increase respect between human and material. In addition to that, the combination of biology and design lets us get to the source of product development, enabling us to realise potential ecological and unethical processes throughout the supply chain. The whole idea of mixing disciplines -science, technology and design- and working in a more interdisciplinary and open environment can be very powerful and can lead to new perspectives. Even science is still a very complex field of research, it is paramount to understand the basics behind it when exploring and experimenting with (bio-)materials.

DESIGNING WITH N AT U R E I N M I N D

DAVID WYSS

Scientific Method

1) Ask a question 2) Do background research 3) Construct hypothesis 4) Test with experiment 5) Analyze results Hypothesis true?

Hypothesis false?

7) Report results

Sources

PRESENTATION

Nuria Conde Jonathan Minchin WEB

www.merriam-webster.com www.evogenean.com www.livescience.com www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.nytimes.com www.sciencelearn.org.nz www.sciencedirect.com www.scientificamerican.com www.encyclopedia.com www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov www.nature.com www.maxanim.com www.sps186.org www.khanacademy.org www.armandoh.org

BIOLOGY ZERO

MDEF 2020/2021

DAVID WYSS