US scientists created in a laboratory, the smallest existing feasible genome in nature, which contains the minimum number of genes needed for an organism to function and autorreproduzca, which expands the possibilities of synthetic creation life, according to a study published in the journal Science .
the synthetic genome of this microbe called Syn 3.0 has only 473 genes. By comparison, a human being has about 20,000 and a Japanese flower called Paris japonica, with the largest genome known to date, has fifty times.
The team accomplished this feat is managed by Craig Venter, the pioneer of DNA sequencing, who also created the first controlled by a synthetic genome in 2010 body.
researchers have created this genome at least have not yet been able to determine the features 149 of these 473 genes, one third of the total, as explained in their published Thursday in the journal Science works.
the creation of this cell could help understand the absolutely function of each gene essential for life, according to biologists.
“the best way to understand life is to create the simplest genome,” said Craig Venter.
“If you do not understand how to fly a Boeing 777, remove the parts one by one until the aircraft can not fly,” he said.
This is the principle that Venter and his equipment used with the genome of a Mycoplasma bacterium, known to have the smallest genomes of all living cells capable of self-replication.
They created hypothetically minimalist genomes in eight different segments to test and identify essential genes and those who are not.
medical applications of this finding are countless, as it opens the possibility of creating new “chemical or pharmaceutical products” in the long run, said microbiologist.
“we hope to be able to design new cells that never before have occurred, we can build whatever we want,” said Clyde Hutchison, professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina, who was part of the study.
An important step
During this process, the researchers also tried to identify the “most essential”, called genes needed to ensure robust growth of the organism, but are not essential for life.
To test these genes, scientists have inserted foreign gene sequences to disrupt its functions and determine which were necessary for the life of bacteria.
The scientists repeated the experiment until they get the smallest genome able to function.
His work also revealed that some genes, classified as “non-essential” perform certain functions that are essential and must be maintained in the genome for life.
Almost all genes necessary for reading and expression of genetic information and the preservation of information and its transmission between generations are also conserved in the genome.
Many of them have been found in other organisms, suggesting that could encode universal proteins whose functions have not yet been defined, according to the researchers.
Scientists consider creating this artificial genome least significant progress.
“this is an important step in the creation of a living cell whose genome is fully defined step,” said Chris Voigt, a biologist at the Institute of Technology of Massachusetts (MIT).
However, adds the scientist, is to define the role of these 149 genes Syn 3.0 that remain unknown and promise to bring new information on the biological basis of life.
by publishing this research, Venter updated its discovery in 2010, when he created the first bacterial synthetic cell capable of automultiplicarse.
So, it was proved that a computer could design a genome, which in turn could chemically constructed in a laboratory and then be transplanted.
with this finding, first opened the possibility to eventually create an artificial kind, with all the ethical burden that implies.
Groups of conservative scientists and the Vatican itself then called for “caution” to the new discovery.
Since 2010, get a cell with a lower number of genes became the main objective of geneticists .
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