World leaders in the field of synthetic genomics, the Venter Institute, is up to creating the whole world of synthetic life. A team of 17 researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) is ready with the largest man-made DNA structure, prepared by synthesizing and assembling the 582,970 base pair genome of a bacterium, Mycoplasma genitalium JCVI-1.0. Now, the same group is looking to create a living bacterial cell based entirely on the synthetically made genome. That will require them to insert the synthetic chromosome into a cell and booting it up to create the first synthetic organism. DNA of Mycoplasma laboratorium, as they call it, will revolutionize the field of synthetic biology and defy the natural life system.
Earlier, the same group had claimed to have developed the first fully-sequenced genome of an individual, which was Venter’s himself. After spending a great time on the task, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was found to be rapidly building the entire bacterial chromosome from large subassemblies. Although, critics are also gathering around, but this milestone is expected to do wonders for humanity, and can also bring about solutions to practical problems, such as diseases, energy, and global warming.
Via: InventorSpot
