A recent report in SCIENCE describes the synthesis and
function of an artificial yeast chromosome. Starting with oligonucleotide
building blocks the investigators assembled a 272,871 base synthetic version
of the 316,667 base natural chromosome III. The artificial chromosome contained
a number of modifications including loxP sites to facilitate gene deletions and
alterations as as well as changes in stop codons and various sequence tags. The
synthetic chromosome seems to work well and to support all essential functions
in living yeast.
This
molecular biology tour de force has major implications for both basic science
and technology. For example, on the basic science side it will allow
simultaneous manipulation of multiple genes thus facilitating the investigation
of patterns of gene-gene interaction. On the technology side it could allow
manipulation of whole suites of genes to produce drugs or other useful
molecules that are difficult to synthesize by conventional means. Overall this
should be a major step forward for synthetic biology.
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