Scientists Achieve Breakthrough in , Engineering 'Artificial' Life.
'The Independent' reports that scientists have created
a yeast cell with 50% synthetic DNA, coming one
step closer to creating complex "artificial" life.
An international team combined over seven
synthetic chromosomes into a single cell, which later
survived and reproduced like a normal yeast cell.
Yeast, which stores DNA within
a nucleus, is a single-celled microbe
classified as an "eukaryotic" organism. .
'The Independent' reports that it is
the first time scientists have tried to
engineer the entire genome of an eukaryote. .
We decided that it was important to
produce something that was very
heavily modified from nature’s design, Professor Jef Boeke, synthetic biologist at New York University’s
Langone Health and leader of Sc2.0, via 'The Independent' .
Our overarching aim
was to build a yeast that
can teach us new biology, Professor Jef Boeke, synthetic biologist at New York University’s
Langone Health and leader of Sc2.0, via 'The Independent' .
The team believes that their achievement
could help develop new products
like biofuels and vaccines. .
The team believes that their achievement
could help develop new products
like biofuels and vaccines. .
The synthetic chromosomes
are massive technical achievements
in their own right, but will also open
up a huge range of new abilities for
how we study and apply biology, Dr. Ben Blount, assistant professor in the School of Life
Sciences at the University of Nottingham, via 'The Independent' .
This could range from creating
new microbial strains for greener
bioproduction, through to helping
us understand and combat disease, Dr. Ben Blount, assistant professor in the School of Life
Sciences at the University of Nottingham, via 'The Independent' .
The team's findings were published in the journals
'Cell,' 'Molecular Cell' and 'Cell Genomics.'