This week in
Science, researchers led by genome sequencing pioneer
Craig Venter report engineering a bacterium to have the smallest genome - and the fewest genes - of any freely living organism. Known as
Syn 3.0, the new organism has a genome whittled down to the bare essentials needed to survive and reproduce, just 473 genes. However, the function of 149 of Syn 3.0's 473 genes remain unknown.
As Syn 3.0's name suggests, it’s not the first synthetic life made by Venter. In 2010, Venter's team reported that they had synthesized the sole chromosome of
Mycoplasma mycoides - a bacterium with a relatively small genome - and transplanted it into a separate mycoplasma called
M. capricolum, from which they had previously extracted the DNA. After s ...
