Another glitch happened right near the end: a one-base deletion, which threw off the three-base reading frame, creating gibberish genomes. The final experiments sent the synthetic genome into different Mycoplasma, changing one species into another. We had hit a dead end and needed a new strategy.” The team eventually harnessed the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to test the synthetic genome.įirst came a synthetic chromosome, dubbed Mycoplasma genitalium JCVI-1.0. But then Venter wrote, “ After a tremendous effort, we were forced to give up. Helpfully, Venter and his team at the Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) had sequenced the organism’s genome in 1999 “Brilliant!” I thought. It uses a superb repair system and conveniently has extra copies of its genome. The story of creating the first synthetic genome-driven cell isn’t a gee-whiz, aren’t-we-brilliant narrative, because Venter intersperses the blind alleys and failures with the hard-won successes.Ī case in point: using Deinococcus radiodurans as a model for stitching together a genome, for this bacterium does just that after radiation shreds its genome to smithereens. The tiny genome of Mycoplasma genitalium, the smallest of a free-living organism at a mere 582,970 bases, inspired the first synthetic genome. Venter’s excitement is palpable, if a little reminiscent of Captain Kirk: “ We were now ready to attempt to go where no one had gone before, to create a whole bacterial synthetic genome and try to produce the first synthetic cell.” I raced through the book, flashing back to grad school with every historical anecdote or recounted experiment that built to the ability to recapitulate the genetic headquarters of a living cell. Creating life, plus sampling bits of various environments and trolling for genomes – metagenomics – are what he’s been up to since the human genome project days.

Venter’s latest effort tackles synthetic biology – chemically creating a simple genome, then transferring it into a receptive cell minus its own genome.

Not just another tale of genome sequencing, Dr. Venter’s new book, Life at the Speed of Light, (Viking publishing October 17), I couldn’t resist. I usually don’t read books about DNA, because I write books about DNA. Craig Venter, now head of Synthetic Genomics Inc (SGI). This week’s post continues that theme with how a researcher created life. Last week’s DNA Science post caused an uproar because I suggested that some people might think life begins at a period other than conception.

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