Biomilab LLC

It Is Generally Accepted That Once Dreissenid Mussels Are Established in a Large Waterway, Eradication Is Neither Logistically nor Economically Realistic. We Have Been Working With Reclamation on the Development of an Anti-dreissenid Agent (ADA) That Will Be Capable of Eliminating Invasive Dreissenids From Water Bodies of Any Size, Safely, Cost-effectively, and Most Importantly, Without Damaging the Delicate Ecosystems of Native U.s. Waterways. the Ada Itself Will Be Engineered Mussel Cancer Cells (referred to by Cell Biologists as Transformed Cells) That Are Created by Introducing Cancer-causing Dna Elements (oncogenes) Into the Genome of Normal Dreissenid Mussel Cells That Will Induce Them to Replicate Indefinitely. in Marine Species, This Kind of Cancer Can Travel Through Water Among Mussels Living in Close Proximity and Cause Widespread Death. the Ada Aims to Reproduce the Toxic Effect of This Natural Pathogenic Mechanism Using Engineered Cells Targeting Dreissenid Mussels Infesting North American Waterways.in This Funding Application We Propose to Continue Development of Methods for Oncogene Delivery to Mussel Embryos Using Microinjection, Methods for Storing Mussel Cells and Embryos Using Cryopreservation, and Finding Ways to Efficiently Raise Mussel Embryos to Adults for Anti-mussel Research Purposes. We Have Achieved the First-ever Expression of Foreign Genetic Material in Quagga Mussel Embryos Over the Last Year, and Though Successful, Believe That There Are Modifications That Will Push Our Efficiencies as Much as 10-FOLD Higher. in Addition, We Have Made Discoveries That Suggest We Are Close to a Better Method of Preserving Dreissenid Embryos and Cells by Cold Storage That Would Greatly Simplify Research Because Continual Spawning of Live Mussels to Produce Fresh Embryos Will No Longer Be Necessary. We Hope to Soon Be Able to Store Embryos at a Very Early Stage Such That We Can Simply Pull a Vial From a Freezer for Use in Experiments. Finally, If We Are Able to Introduce Foreign Genetic Material Into Mussel Embryos to Create Transgenic Animals That Can Be Raised to Adulthood, These Adults Can Be Spawned to Produce Stably Genetically-modified Mussels Invaluable for Improved Research and Development of Anti-mussel Strategies.we Have Made Significant Inroads Into Each of These Project Areas Over the Last Five Years With the Help of Reclamations Science and Technology Program. the Additional Funding We Are Requesting Will Be Used to Help Bridge a Funding Gap and Allow Us to Maintain Project Momentum. We Are Currently at a Stage of Experimentation Where the Cells That Will Form the Basis of Ada Could Be in Our Hands at Any Time, and We Want to Be Prepared to Take Full Advantage of That Moment.