Using off-the-shelf chemical compounds, scientists for the first time have constructed the entire genome of a bacterium, a key step toward their ultimate goal of creating synthetic life forms, researchers reported Thursday.
The artificial DNA was nearly identical to the natural version on which it was based — with minor modifications to identify it and render it harmless to people, according to the study in the journal Science.
The research team at Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Md., is now trying to insert the artificial DNA inside a living cell with the hope that it will take over its host and become the first synthetically created, self-replicating organism.
“This entire process started with four bottles of chemicals,” said Craig Venter, who has been spearheading the overall project.
Scientists have previously pieced together individual genes and even whole viruses in the lab, but those were not independent life forms. The genome in this study — from the bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium — is more than 10 times larger than any previously synthesized.
Researchers in the nascent field of synthetic biology hope to use the method as a blueprint for designing microscopic creatures that can produce renewable fuels, medicines and industrial products.
Venter, the maverick scientist best known for challenging the federal government’s effort to decode the human genome, has been studying M. genitalium for more than a decade. With only 485 protein-coding genes and very little extraneous DNA, its genome is smaller than that of any other free-living organism. Venter wants to make it even smaller and find out just how many genes are required to create “a minimal operating system for life.”
About 100 of the genes can be removed individually without affecting the bacteria’s ability to survive. But that doesn’t mean all 100 genes can be deleted simultaneously. To determine how many are superfluous, Venter plans to make thousands of versions of the bacterium and see which ones survive.
The final version of the synthetic genome was 582,970 base pairs long. If printed out on paper in 10-point type, the genome would fill 147 pages.
The next step for the researchers is to transplant the artificial DNA into a host bacterium and see if it will take over the cell.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
