‘Dreams are ideas, and ideas bring Innovations’
By: Pratyush Singh
Tags: Startup, Biotechnology, Future, Ideas, Ornamental Plants

Nucleic acids like DNA are the center of focus in Genetic engineering

So a week ago on Friday, the day which actually gives me a lot of hope by telling me its the last working day after a whole busy week, i was finally feeling very relaxed and was sitting on a couch with my hot chocolate on the table beside me and my laptop on my lap, i was surfing Netflix searching for an interesting movies or web-series when i came across ‘Black sheep’. Now this isn’t the same old ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ we used to hear all day in our childhood, instead its a very technical, science friction, based on Genetic Engineering kinda stuff. So i being a Student in Genetic Engineering Myself, obviously have that Affinity inside myself to get attracted to these stuffs within minutes, Okay, ‘So black Sheep it is’, i said to myself in my mind.

Your mind might be bouncing up now with questions like what exactly is Genetic Engineering(of course you must have heard the name before)and what on the Earth these ‘Black Sheep’ has to do with the title. Well you will get the answers of all your questions if you read this blog till the end xd.

What is Genetic Engineering?

Genetic engineering, the artificial manipulation, modification, and recombination of DNA or other nucleic acid molecules in order to modify an organism or population of organisms. Now there are tons of method available today for modifying nucleic acids which in turn can be used to modify a whole organism or a population. So what methods am i talking about exactly? How did they came into existence? How and when did all this started? Well, lets find out, shall we?

A splash of History on your face

Scene from a movie released in 1958 showing 2 scientist working.

So it all started after DNA was proved to be the basis of Heredity and people, out of their natural curiosity, started doing experiments on DNA trying to determine all the possibilities it holds for the future. It was in 1961, when On May 13, 1961, two articles appeared in Nature, authored by a total of nine people, including Sydney Brenner, François Jacob and Jim Watson, announcing the isolation of messenger RNA (mRNA). In the same month, François Jacob and Jacques Monod published a review in Journal of Molecular Biology in which they put mRNA into a theoretical context, arguing for its role in gene regulation. Aside from the technical process involved, these papers were feats of the imagination, for they represented an entirely new way of thinking about gene function. So now, mRNA was discovered and Scientists around the globe knew what can this big discovery mean.

In September 1957, Francis Crick gave a lecture in which he outlined key ideas about gene function, in particular what he called the central dogma. These ideas still frame how we understand life.

Crick’s first outline of the central dogma, from an unpublished note made in 1956.

Credit: Wellcome Library, London.

Even with very less advanced techniques and technologies, the scientist of early 20th century knew what they were doing. They knew how to make good use of the resources they were already having.

After the discovery of mRNA, scientist knew that now this is the molecule which is ultimately going to transcribe Protein which in turn will give them the phenotype. The biggest question was, ‘Is there any way by which they can alter this mRNA to get the phenotype of desired character?’ And if there is, what kind of phenotype they can hope to get?

The answer came almost 10 years later when the possibility for recombinant DNA technology emerged with the discovery of restriction enzymes in 1968 by Swiss microbiologist Werner Arber. The following year American microbiologist Hamilton O. Smith purified so-called type II restriction enzymes, which were found to be essential to genetic engineering for their ability to cleave a specific site within the DNA (as opposed to type I restriction enzymes, which cleave DNA at random sites). Drawing on Smith’s work, American molecular biologist Daniel Nathans helped advance the technique of DNA recombination in 1970–71 and demonstrated that type II enzymes could be useful in genetic studies. Genetic engineering based on recombination was pioneered in 1973 by American biochemists Stanley N. Cohen and Herbert W. Boyer, who were among the first to cut DNA into fragments, rejoin different fragments, and insert the new genes into E. coli bacteria, which then reproduced.

Everything was in place now, only he techniques to be used were lacking, whose discovery was inevitable in near future.

Ahhh, i forgot, so coming back to my relaxing Friday night with my hot coffee, so i finally decided to see ‘Black Sheep’ which i did. And man, that proved so important and useful at the same time. That day, i had an amazing ‘Dream’ where , ‘i saw myself in my 3rd year, working on a big startup along with 4 others of my batch mates, i saw myself running simulations and making different floral patterns on my computer screen and then sharing my design with my fellow co-researchers’.

Next day, i woke up so confused, i thought ‘What the hell was that xd’ when everything began coming back to me in time, and then i realized, i have actually found an idea for my ‘Own Startup’

About the product (Business Idea):

A Genetically modified plant having different color petals on the same plant

Genetically Modified Ornamental plants

That was exactly what going in my mind after i understood that dream. It actually gave me a great Startup idea. This idea came after seeing that movie ‘Black Sheep’ now there was nothing that was even remotely related to starting your own startup, that too in ‘Plant Domain’ since the movie was based on creation of ‘Transgenic Animal’ (opss Spoiler alters xd) or for the least part, a transgenic trait. But that theme, of introducing such transgenic characters actually got my attention, after that, it was just my curiosity which aided me in having such a dream.

Market Demand:

The Indian Floriculture market was worth INR 188.7 Billion in 2019. Floriculture also known as flower farming refers to the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants. Although flowers have been an integral part of the Indian society and were cultivated for various purposes ranging from aesthetic to social and religious purposes, the commercial floriculture industry has been of recent origin. A strong increase in the demand for cut and loose flowers has made floriculture as one of the important commercial trades in Indian agriculture. Looking forward, IMARC Group expects the Indian Floriculture market to exhibit strong growth during 2020–2025.

The above pie chart shows the rise in Import in Ornamental plants over the period of 10 years in subsequent countries mentioned above.

These stats clearly show how big Ornamental flowering industry is going to be i near future and using knowledge of biotechnology, it can be taken to a whole different level.

Relevant Products in the market:

At least 50 ornamental plants have been transformed, the main species including rose (Rosa hybrida), chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium), petunia (Petunia hybrida), and carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus)4. However, very few genetically modified (GM) ornamental varieties have obtained the regulatory approval and have reached the market so far.

The idea of creating Genetically modified Ornamental plant is still new to the society because it still relies in the traditional ornamental flowers when it comes to decoration.

A Table representing various occasions and their usage demands in %age

Apart from the distribution shown above, ornamental flowers is a necessity in Homes, offices, ceremonies, marriages, Casual parties, rituals etc.

Using biotechnology, we can full fill all these demands can easily be fulfilled even on larger scales.

What technologies and knowledge one should have for this particular startup?

As i mentioned above, GMOs are a product of biotechnology. So having a core knowledge in biotechnology is a necessity. Apart from biotechnology, there are other technical knowledge one should possess.

One should have knowledge in the field of Engineering(Biotechnology will be most preferred) along with Technical knowledge(Animations, Programming)

Blender: Simulations

Whether you need a crumbling building, rain, fire, smoke, fluid, cloth or full on destruction, Blender delivers great looking results. Simulation is a major part in experimental biotechnology, whether you are working on protein folding or on creating something new, you will need to have the technical knowledge about simulations.

Python/C++: High-level programming language

Python/C++is an interpreted, object-oriented, high-level programming language with dynamic semantics. Its high-level built in data structures, combined with dynamic typing and dynamic binding, make it very attractive for Rapid Application Development, as well as for use as a scripting or glue language to connect existing components together.

So now let’s say you have all the required knowledge needed for this particular startup, what’s next?

So the 1st step would require interaction with the customer and that would require an online media solution for placing the orders and knowing the demands of the customers for their preferences that can be done over a website/emails/whatsapp chat etc.

The second step would require storing the large data sets and order of the customers in required data sets in a main frame and then passing the information to the concern department of Technology for further processing.

Now this step will require extreme computation solution and running simulations in 3D in computers to make the desired model and then validating the processed model to the concerned customer for further approval before passing on to the department of Biotechnology.

This is a very crucial stage now, requiring extreme knowledge in the field of Genomics, Genetics, Biotechnology. The scientist would now evaluate the plant species that is to be used and other plant species whose genome can be used for genetically engineering the required traits for the required design of our 3D model.

This pictures shows different variants of the same species of Alocaisa

The initial stages of such an startup would be requiring bulk orders for such genetically modified ornamental plants, but as it goes on, it can even be normalized and made commercially available even in small unit orders.

Normalizing such GMOs would be like taking the level of development in terms of progress of humanity would be like taking the humanity on a whole different level.

It will also be giving a path and addressing all kinds of ethical issues associated with genetic engineering and that in turn will create a set example for future experiments related to the creation of ‘Transgenic characters’.

The estimated budget for such an start-up is going to be huge

Human Resources: Initially, i will be needing a communicator(for approaching the required and appropriate customers and targeting market), a representative with all background ‘know-how’ to brief the customers and other groups about the company and their motives and the process of manufacturing. Next will be the technical segment where i will need someone to run the simulations and have extensive programming knowledge. The last human asset would be myself, since i have the Genetic knowledge, so in total, initially i will be needing at least 4 to 5 people.

Hardware asset: Apart from having all the tools necessary for actually performing genetic combination(like restriction enzymes etc), a startup which will require running simulations on computer would require a very a powerful computer with high-end CPU and GPU for rendering the animations, videos and simulations.

So the total amount of estimated costs would be around $3500(2.6 lakh INR)

Now for the fun part, what will the pricing ?

Now i want this project to make an impact on the society especially when it comes to addressing ethical issues surrounding genetic engineering, so i want my GMOs to be normalized for per unit sales in future so i don’t want people to feel its something very costly, so i haven’t yet thought anything about the pricing but most probably it will be somewhere between 150–300 INR per unit.

Reaching to target audience is a major part for every start-up. And we are now literally living in a world of possibilities where anything and everything is possible. There are several ways now available worldwide to advertise your start-up, whether its on a social media platform like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or in offline mode through big banners or television stuffs, everything is within reach.

So that was pretty much it for my idea of start-up, now let’s see what risk it holds within itself that can come during planning, implementing or any other stages of my planning.

One of the biggest concerns for starting a biotech start-up would be the ethical issues surrounding this area of ‘’Genetic engineering’. People especially in our Country, oppose GMOs, they are not sure if the GMOs are going to actually benefit the society or will be reflecting adverse effects.

This concern is not useless i will admit, because there have been several incidents in the past where ‘Genetic engineering have been used or at least had been tried to be used for unethical purposes. So actually approving your project from the Government and scientific society especially in India is going to be a hard task.

Another major thing is the timing for any start-up. Deadlines can be a very major back, so planning a timeline for steps and milestone for any start-up is a must to do thing

This table typically shows the timeline and planning for what i have done for my start-up

Sticking to one’s own principal and timetable is a must, if you want to achieve your goals in the specified time period. This practice also ensure you don’t get rusty with time, and as per me, i take my principals very seriously :)

So that was pretty much it for what i have in my mind, after that mind-blowing dream that i had that Friday, thanks to ‘Black-Sheep’ and of course my lovely ‘Hot chocolate’.

Oh my bad, i forgot to ask, did you guys ever have had any dreams which gave you such startup idea? Do let me know in the comments, bu-bye and have a wonderful Christmas !!