Next Gen News

scientific achievement could lead to better vaccines and biofuels, and is an important step towards fully synthetic organisms

life forms were created that carry the son of genetic material designed and built from scratch in the laboratory, paving the way for the application "evolution" of organisms.

made of sections of chromosomes, large DNA molecules that carry, and transferred to yeast cells, the type normally used in cooking.

cells adopted the new genetic code as part of their normal cellular machinery and to the surprise of scientists, it seemed as healthy as their natural counterparts.

The feat is a big step towards being fully synthetic organisms that can be designed to increase biofuels, vaccines and industrial chemicals, Jef Boeke said, who led the study at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.

studies with synthetic DNA errors are widely expected to shed light on some of the most difficult questions of biology, such as the minimum set of genes necessary for life on Earth.

"We created a research tool not only allows us to learn more about the biology of yeast, but also offers the opportunity to design one day genomes for specific purposes, such as the manufacture of new vaccines or drugs, "says Jef Boeke, who led the study at Johns Hopkins in Maryland.

integrated into the chromosomes are sequences of synthetic genes which, when activated by a chemical, a dramatic reorganization of the genes in the body. The technique, known as the coding genome, allowing scientists to accelerate the evolution of organisms in demand by creating thousands of new strains and the collection of the best survivors.

The breakthrough was made possible by powerful techniques that have emerged from the rapid development of genetics, computer science and synthetic chemistry.

Work

Boeke focused on a yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae, one of the most well known organizations in the field of genetics. He has 16 chromosomes, which together have about 6,000 genes.

The team started with a digital version of a yeast chromosome, which is processed by a computer according to three simple rules. They need scientists to optimize the chromosome by removing non-essential genes, without compromising the ability of the organism. Other sections of the genetic code were written later in the chromosome to allow scientists to rearrange genes in future experiments.

"They are very healthy and it's very exciting for us because it means that our design is sound and we can play all the games we're fantasizing," he said Boeke The Guardian . The study was published in the journal Nature.
Boeke recently developed advanced methods for the design of chromosomes, but for these experiments, the hours of painstaking editing on the computer. "It was tedious and embarrassment is almost a miracle that the yeast grows, because the potential errors that could happen is wonderful," he said.