A concept that has continued to fascinate me is the ability to evolve and manipulate generations of microorganisms or bacteria such that they are able to benefit society. Examples of this can already be seen with the use of bacteria that are able to degrade plastic; by implementing directed evolution in this fashion, we can attempt to apply these ideas to modern world problems, such as rapid degradation of plastic waste. Nobel laureate and professor at Caltech University Frances Arnold was able to apply these ideas to bacteria that can produce beneficial enzymes through an artificially placed section of their genome. By using these basic ideas and transforming them into complex, creative real world applications, the future of humanity will be much more fruitful and will provide a more hopeful outlook.
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During my time as an undergraduate studying at Foothill College, I had the opportunity to intern at the biotechnology company, SnapDNA. This company had demonstrated to me the sheer widespread nature of biotechnology in that they utilized engineering to construct a machine capable of detecting the presence of bacteria from a very miniscule amount of sample. Naturally, industrial hygienic examinations would require 2-3 business days to perform the sample extraction and run it through a detection assay. However, through their work, they were able to minimize the examination time down to mere hours saving industries a significant amount of time potentially wasted simply waiting for the test to be completed.