First genome transplant turns one species into another

[Al-khiyal]

June 29, 2007 -- Scientists have converted an organism into an entirely different species by performing the world's first genome transplant, a breakthrough that paves the way for the creation of synthetic forms of life.

The team, led by Craig Venter, the man who raced to sequence the human genome, wants to build new microbes to produce environmentally friendly fuels.

The group's study, details of which were revealed in the US journal Science yesterday, proves it is possible to transplant a complete set of genetic instructions into an organism, in effect turning it into the same species the DNA was taken from.

The proof of principle experiment solves the first of two big difficulties which have hindered the creation of artificial life. The team, based at Dr Venter's not-for-profit institute in Rockville, Maryland, now hopes to overcome the second hurdle, by designing new genetic codes on computers and transplanting them into organisms to produce new life forms.

The team is focusing on creating micro-organisms which produce green fuels as natural waste products. "One of the goals we have is trying to see if we could design cells to manufacture new types of fuel to break our dependency on oil and coal and try to do something about carbon dioxide," Dr Venter said. "We look forward to trying to have the first fuels from genetically modified and even synthetic organisms, certainly within the decade."

The work is at the cutting edge of synthetic biology, which is rapidly becoming one of the most contentious fields in science. Researchers have developed the tools to recreate the devastating 1918 flu virus, and are working on ways to genetically modify human cells and understand the most fundamental mechanisms of life.

But critics fear the field is progressing too fast for society to grasp. Some are concerned that artificial organisms could escape and damage the environment, or that maverick scientists or terrorist groups could create powerful new bioweapons.

Dr Venter's team commissioned an 18-month study into the bioethics of their research, which gave strong approval but echoed concerns about the dangers.

In the experiment, researchers extracted the whole genetic code from a simple bacterium, Mycoplasma mycoides. They squirted the DNA into a test tube containing a related species, Mycoplasma capricolum. They found that some of the bacteria absorbed the new genome and ditched their own. These microbes grew and behaved exactly like the donor.

First genome transplant turns one species into another

[Al-khiyal]

June 29, 2007 -- Scientists at the institute directed by J. Craig Venter, a pioneer in sequencing the human genome, reported Friday that they had successfully transplanted the genome of one species of bacteria into another, an achievement they see as a major step toward creating synthetic forms of life.

Other scientists who did not participate in the research praised the achievement, reported in the journal Science. But some expressed skepticism that it was as significant as Venter said.

His goal is to make cells that might take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and produce methane, used as a feedstock for other fuels. Such an achievement might reduce dependency on fossil fuels and strike a blow at global warming.

"We look forward to having the first fuels from synthetic biology certainly within the decade and possibly in half that time," he said.

Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University, in New Jersey, said the transplantation technique, which leads to the transferred genome taking over the host cell, was "a landmark accomplishment."

"It represents the complete reprogramming of an organism using only a chemical entity," Ebright said.

Leroy Hood, a pioneer of the closely related field of systems biology, said Venter's report was "a really marvelous kind of technical feat," but just one of a long series of steps required before synthetic chromosomes could be put to use in living cells.

"It's a really worthy accomplishment, but I hope it doesn't get hyped to be more than it is," Hood said.

One reason for Venter's optimism is that he says his institute is close to synthesizing from simple chemicals an entire genome, 580,000 DNA units in length, of a small bacterium, Mycoplasma genitalium. If that genome can be made to take over a bacterium using the method announced Friday, Venter should be able to claim that he has made the first synthetic life form. The bacterium would be identical to nature's version, but would demonstrate how precise control could be achieved over every aspect of the machinery of living cells.

Biologists have long been able to move useful genes into bacteria and other organisms in a process called genetic engineering. The idea of synthetic biology is to carry out genetic engineering in a more extensive and systematic way.

Synthetic biologists, who held their third annual meeting in Zurich during the past week, hope to create biochemical processes and then choose the gene sequences that will direct these processes and build the DNA from scratch. The scientists' goal is to select and reorder the genetic machinery developed by evolution just as an engineer might assemble an efficient circuit board from existing components.

Venter hopes to lay the basis for a new approach to synthetic biology by first synthesizing whole genomes in the laboratory and then making them take control of, or "boot up," a living cell. His new report accomplishes the second of the two steps, at least in Mycoplasma. His team, which includes a distinguished biologist, Hamilton Smith, purified the full DNA from one kind of Mycoplasma and showed that it could take control of another, making the host cell switch over to producing proteins specified by the inserted DNA. Smith said he was not sure whether the inserted genome destroyed the host genome or just made the cell divide, assigning the two genomes to different daughter cells.

Booting up cells with new genomes is a major limitation in synthetic biology, Venter said. With that hurdle now crossed, it will be possible to "design cells in future to manufacture new types of fuel and break our dependency on oil and do something about carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere."

Hood, co-founder of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, said the next step on Venter's agenda, putting a functional synthetic genome into an organism, would be more significant.

"Synthesizing a whole chromosome and getting it to function will be a really remarkable step that will be much closer to the golden vision of creating new organisms," he said.

George Church, a leading systems biologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that the new report was "good science," but that it had been achieved in an organism, Mycoplasma, that is unsuitable for industrial uses. As for Venter's assertion that his result is "an enabling technique," Church said, "The door to synthetic biology is already wide open, and people are pouring through it."

Church agreed with Venter's forecast that synthetic biologists could produce fuels within 10 years. He noted that LS9, a company in California, was producing laboratory amounts of petroleumlike fuels in bacteria.

Scientists claim breakthrough in creating synthetic life

[Bent_Bladi]

does this mean there's still hope for a "cat woman" or "bat man"

jk... that's crazy.... wow... i hope they stick to what's beneficial to us and not start making new weapons or something

[Cheba_Mami]

i don't think i want this to happen! it would be all possible creations, human species will be in danger, the planet will be doomed.

[Bent_Bladi]

dang, Cheba Mami, you're very pessimistic today

[Cheba_Mami]

and now the day is gone and so is my pessimism.

[amalgamate]

That's definitely a huge step forward in science- maybe too large of a step with our short, stubby legs... but i'm with cheba mami. it's scary what may come of this 'creative power' we've acquired in our hands. besides, it's in our nature to be destructive

Qruan 2:30 Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: "I will create a vicegerent on earth." They said: "Wilt Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood?-