Creation of Synthetic Life

What is it all about?

In yesterday's ScienceExpress researchers led by J. Craig Venter reported that they had built a genome from scratch and used it to control a cell.

What exactly did they do?

Firstly scientists "decoded" the chromosome of an existing bacterial cell. They then copied this code and chemically constructed a new synthetic chromosome by piecing together blocks of DNA. By inserting them into yeast cells, they assembled the blocks into a complete bacterial chromosome. This synthetic chromosome was then inserted into a bacterial cell which replicated itself successfully. The chemically constructed DNA was now in control of the cell.

Why did they use bacterial cells?

In genetic terms, bacteria are very simple organisms. Typically they have a single, circular chromosome of DNA (Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes). This makes it significantly easier to sequence and copy all of the information.

Why is it a "breakthrough"?

The research shows that making a living cell with a synthetic chromosome is possible.

Although they are calling this a synthetic living cell - it is really only the genome or the DNA in the cell that is entirely synthetic as the researchers used an exisitng cell as a recipeient for their synthetic DNA.

What will happen next?

Researchers will hope to use the technology to design bacteria from scratch. These cells could potentially carry out useful functions from the production of fuels to the development of potentially new vaccines.

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