In the real world, stem cells may have a tremendous ability to repair damaged tissue, but they would not corrupt people. The best ones are autologous, which means they are implanted in the same person they came from — not from slugs. Splicers Genetic engineering permeates Rapture, and some of the most grotesque villains are splicers. Their name, of course, references gene splicing, which figures prominently into our world as well. Many of the crops we eat have been genetically modified to tolerate pests or herbicides.
Researchers routinely create lab animals that lack individual genes, or contain strange ones. They have even made green fluorescent rabbits and glowing fish. Plasmids In the game, they modify your DNA, giving you the ability to use telekinesis, hurl electro bolts, and incinerate your enemies. In the real world, they are circular DNA molecules that bacteria use to share genes with each other.
But it wasn't until the dawn of molecular genetics that the fertility factor was found to be a circular loop of DNA that existed independently of the bacterial genome—a plasmid. Renamed the F-plasmid, the short sequence of DNA contains all the genes necessary for a bacterium to form a pilus—a long, thin, tentacle-like protrusion—and attach itself to another bacterium lacking F-plasmid. The pilus reels in the donor bacteria, and a copy of the F-plasmid, along with the bacterial chromosome, is transferred into it horizontally.
This process is known as conjugation. But conjugation is not F-plasmid's only trick. Infrequent cellular mishaps can cause an F-plasmid to accidentally integrate into the main bacterial chromosome. If and when it's excised by the cell, the F-plasmid often takes adjacent DNA along with it, including entire genes. F-plasmid derivatives known as R-factors, for example, contain an additional suite of antibiotic resistance genes. Other transferable traits could include toxin production, viral resistance, enhanced longevity, and more.
As interesting as the plasmids themselves are, what's more interesting is how they can be manipulated for use in genetic research. By artificially inserting non-bacterial genes into an F-plasmid and introducing them to a bacterial culture, the foreign genes can be amplified through horizontal and vertical transfer, and the gene can be studied in a simple bacterial environment.
These artificial bacterial plasmids are now routinely used for the study of bacterial and non-bacterial gene function and the cloning and sequencing of DNA—the Human Genome Project relied on them. Genetically modified bacteria also offer a cheap and efficient source of human insulin, crop pesticides, and soil fertilizers. These have been used industrially for decades. One genus of bacteria, Agrobacterium , takes conjugation one step further by horizontally transferring plasmids directly into the genome of plants.
Agrobacteria were well-known to researchers in both agriculture and science, who have studied them for over years because they trigger crown-gall disease—a plant ailment that results in the growth of root tumors. At the time, Braun's idea came from his observation that the aforementioned plant tumors did not contain a significant volume of Agrobacterium. Now, the molecular basis of Braun's elusive principle is known as the Ti tumor inducing plasmid.
Upon detection of an open plant wound, Agrobacteria attach themselves to an internal plant cell and inject a copy of the Ti-plasmid into it. The Ti-plasmid genes are then read by the host cell's cellular machinery, which is instructed to integrate Ti-plasmid genes directly into the plant genome.
From there, the host cell reads the Ti-plasmid genes, which include various plant growth hormones, resulting in rapid plant cell proliferation and the formation of tumors—tumors that, under instruction from the integrated Ti-plasmid, produce nitrogen-rich molecules as a food source for the surrounding Agrobacteria.
As a proficient genetic hacker, Agrobacteria —and the species Agrobacterium tumefaciens in particular—have become the plant biologist's tool of choice. Just like the aforementioned F-plasmid modifications, the Ti-plasmid can be altered to include any gene of interest. It's this technology and others like it that have led to the creation of genetically modified plant seeds with added pesticide production, salt tolerance, nutritional value, and more, such as The Golden Rice Project.
The intrigue surrounding Agrobacteria doesn't even stop there. More recent studies have shown that under strict laboratory conditions, Agrobacteria can be encouraged to transmit Ti-plasmid into yeast cells , fungal cells, algae cells , and even cultured human cells.
Still, for better or worse, on-demand, bacterial-plasmid-mediated alterations of entire human genomes is nothing but science fiction with current technologies. But a real-world equivalent to BioShock 's plasmids may lie elsewhere—the simple yet powerful virus. Preparing for the disorder to come, Ryan started marketing ADAM products to be used for citizens' home defense under his own company's brand.
The use of Plasmids evolved into a genetic arms race [3] , as both sides of the conflict further equipped themselves. Field tests were conducted by Sinclair Solutions on more powerful and diverse Plasmids and Tonics. The population degenerated into insanity as side-effects of ADAM overuse became endemic. Ryan finally resorted to adding mental control pheromones into his products to influence the Splicers and win the war against Atlas. Before the civil war, Suchong worked on a new form of Plasmid which used oral ingestion rather than injection into the bloodstream.
This method, while better from a marketing standpoint, required use of at least ten times the previous quantity of ADAM, and Fontaine recalled the production because of the excessive cost in raw genetic material. The idea itself was exploited by Jeremiah Fink , a businessman using trans-dimensional technologies to plagiarize scientific wonders from the neighboring reality, to create his own Vigors.
Fink stole Suchong's work on ADAM and improved it in his own laboratories , though ironically the scientist was able to profit from this situation and proposed the idea to Ryan as his own after taking notes of Fink's procedures.
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