Nature can make things a little in disorder. But humans often live to perfection, and in this desire, researchers have created a strain of bacteria whose genetic code is more effective than any other form of life on earth. Its name is Syn57, but what is it exactly? (Image: Getty Images)
What have the researchers created?
Syn57 is a bio-designed strain of E. Coli, and has seven codons less than all life on earth. A codon is a sequence with three letters found in DNA and RNA and provides instructions for amino acids – known as a fundamental “construction block” of life. All of life known on Earth uses 64 codons, but in 1966, the researchers fell in love with the code and found the codons to which amino acids, and could therefore map the standard genetic code. This only needed 20 amino acids in total (photo: Getty)
So, if only 20 were necessary, did it mean that humans could design a more effective organism from zero? It took a while to understand, because you first need proof that it can be done. In 2010, a team of researchers described the steps to manufacture the first cell of synthetic bacteria in the world, and took about 15 years to finish using 64 codons. But in 2019, genetics researchers at Cambridge University managed to rework a bit of E. Coli up to 61 codons – showing that life can work with less than 64 years (image: Getty)
But now the researchers have pushed a little further. To make Syn57, they modified more than 101,000 lines of genetic code – first in theory, then in practice. Thanks to the progress of the synthesis of DNA, genetic researchers can now build genomes from zero, avoiding some of the redundant codons from the start. And that brought the team of the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology to the United Kingdom to create the first form of life to go to the brand at 57-Codon (Image: Getty)
As they brought the changes, the team tested small fragments of the synthetic genome in living bacteria a little to make sure they do not insert harmful changes, then sewn everything together to form the final and entirely synthetic tension. This shows that life can survive with a significantly compressed genetic plan and it could also potentially release the remaining codons to be assigned different roles (image: Getty)
What could he do?
The team said: “Syn57 has more space to introduce other non -canonical amino acids, with greater opportunities to further extend the genetic code. This will allow researchers to develop innovative synthetic polymers and macrocycles. Addressing the New York Times, Dr. Yonatan Chemla, a synthetic biologist at MIT who was not involved in the study, said: “ It’s a little crazy that they could succeed. It is a technically demanding ‘(picture: Getty)
Since Syn57 codes are not canonical, it should be illegible for “natural” microbes, such as viruses, and bacteria should be able to withstand any infection. Tension may also be able to help researchers fight against risks that could arise if engineering microbes were released in the environment. But bacteria can exchange information with each other, so if a gene could escape a microbe designed and spread in the environment, this could cause ecological damage. It would only be a threat only if other bacteria could read the engineering gene and make it proteins, but if the engineering bacteria used a different genetic code, it would be charabia for natural microbes (image: Getty)
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