Scientists have just created the most synthetic life form ever

Created to Syn57, an Escherichia coli strain that has drastically simplified genetic code.

Is a milestone in synthetic biology: a team of researchers created the most advanced synthetic life form ever; a strain of They exhibited chill call Syn57, with drastically simplified genetic code.

Unlike natural organisms, which use 64 Codões – nucleotide triads that determine the production of amino acids – SYN57 operates with Only 57.

Codões are essentially the language of DNA and from RNA, instructing cells on how to build proteins from amino acids.

Although all living organisms use the same 64 codions, many are redundant, since only 20 amino acids are needed to build proteins.

In this, to eliminate these duplications, The scientists compressed the genome to the essentials, reaching a milestone that surpasses previous efforts that had achieved 6 codions.

The team carefully redesigned the genome from scratch. It eliminated four of the six codions for the amino acid serin, two of the four for Alanine and a stop codão. These were replaced by synonymous codions that transmit the same instructions.

In total, more than 101,000 changesplanned in detail in computer simulations and mounted on fragments before they are combined in the final synthetic strain, explains the.

“We were definitely spent for periods when we were asking: ‘Is this a dead end or will be able to take this to the end?’” Wesley Robertson, one of the main authors of the study.

Small fragments of the genome were tested in vivid bacteria to ensure their viability before the creation of the Final Syn57 strain.

The study shows that life can prosper with a compressed genome and also opens possibilities for expand the genetic code. With the remaining codions freed, scientists will be able to introduce non -standard amino acids, potentially creating new synthetic polymers and macrocycles for industrial or medical applications.

SYN57 Single Genetic Code is also expected to virus resistant which depend on the appropriation of bacterial protein production, reducing risks in the industrial culture of bacteria.

In addition, the redesigned genome can function as a form of biological containment, preventing the propagation of modified genes in natural ecosystems.

“This work exemplifies how genomes synthesis can move genomic sequences to new sequence space regions that may never have been accessed by natural life,” the research team said.