Synthetic life and biodiversity
Written by Dr Chris Gyngell
Last year, the first truly novel synthetic life form was created. The Minimal Cell created by the Venter Lab, contains the smallest genome of any known independent organism.[1] While the first synthetic microbe was created in 2010, that was simply a like for like synthetic copy of the genome of an existing bacterium. Nothing like the Minimal Cell exists in nature.
This great advance in synthetic biology comes at a time where natural life forms are being manipulated in ways never seen before. The CRISPR gene editing system has been used to create hulk-like dogs, malaria proof mosquitoes, drought resistant wheat and hornless cows. The list of CRISPR-altered animals grows by the month.Read More »Synthetic life and biodiversity