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Md. Scientists Create Full Chromosome of Synthetic DNA - washingtonpost.com
by bucy at 6:21 pm EST, Jan 24, 2008 |
Scientists in Maryland today said they had built from scratch an entire microbial chromosome, a loop of synthetic DNA carrying all the instructions that a simple cell needs to live and reproduce. The feat marks the first time that anyone has made such a large strand of hereditary material from off-the-shelf chemical ingredients. Previous efforts had yielded DNA strands less than one-twentieth the size, and those pieces lacked many of the key biological programs that tell a cell how to stay alive. On the basis of earlier experiments, the researchers believe the new, full-length loop would spontaneously "boot up" inside a cell, just as a downloaded operating system can awaken a computer -- a potentially historic event that would amount to the creation of the first truly artificial life form.
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RE: Md. Scientists Create Full Chromosome of Synthetic DNA - washingtonpost.com
by Dr. Nanochick at 5:22 pm EST, Jan 28, 2008 |
bucy wrote: Scientists in Maryland today said they had built from scratch an entire microbial chromosome, a loop of synthetic DNA carrying all the instructions that a simple cell needs to live and reproduce. The feat marks the first time that anyone has made such a large strand of hereditary material from off-the-shelf chemical ingredients. Previous efforts had yielded DNA strands less than one-twentieth the size, and those pieces lacked many of the key biological programs that tell a cell how to stay alive. On the basis of earlier experiments, the researchers believe the new, full-length loop would spontaneously "boot up" inside a cell, just as a downloaded operating system can awaken a computer -- a potentially historic event that would amount to the creation of the first truly artificial life form.
Sounds interesting - definitely has potential for both good and bad (as everything in my field these days seems to highlight). What was most interesting to me, however, was the fact that Venter failed to give a figure on how much this project cost - my guess is, it cost a lot! I am very interested to see the results of his competitors, who are coming at this question from a "tweaking" aspect rather than a "synthesis" aspect. It seems like that would be a lot cheaper/easier... |
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Md. Scientists Create Full Chromosome of Synthetic DNA - washingtonpost.com
by k at 6:45 pm EST, Jan 24, 2008 |
Scientists in Maryland today said they had built from scratch an entire microbial chromosome, a loop of synthetic DNA carrying all the instructions that a simple cell needs to live and reproduce. The feat marks the first time that anyone has made such a large strand of hereditary material from off-the-shelf chemical ingredients. Previous efforts had yielded DNA strands less than one-twentieth the size, and those pieces lacked many of the key biological programs that tell a cell how to stay alive. On the basis of earlier experiments, the researchers believe the new, full-length loop would spontaneously "boot up" inside a cell, just as a downloaded operating system can awaken a computer -- a potentially historic event that would amount to the creation of the first truly artificial life form.
Synthetic superbugs, here we come! Everyone got their space suits ready? |
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