Smallest ever genome comes to life

• Autores: Andy Coghlan
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3067, 2016, págs. 6-7
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • In creating the latest landmark synthetic organism--the world's first minimal genome--Craig Venter and his team have discovered that they don't know the functions of almost a third of the genes that are vital for life. "Finding so many genes without a known function is unsettling, but it's exciting because it's left them with much still to learn," says Alistair Elfick, a bioengineer at the University of Edinburgh, UK. "It's like the dark matter of biology." Venter, founder of the J. Craig Venter Institute in La Jolla CA has long hoped to unravel life's essential toolkit. Now his team has created the first minimal genome--the tiniest possible stash of DNA capable of supporting life. With 473 genes, the new cell, JCVI-syn3.0, has at least 50 fewer genes than nature's record-holder for the shortest genome in a sell-sustaining living organism, Mycoplasma genitalium.