Scientists Create Ultra-Simplified Bacteria but Discover Life Is Still Mind-Boggling Complex

By Malcolm Ritter. Scientists have deleted nearly half the genes of a microbe, creating a . . . bacterium [that] has a smaller genetic code than does any natural free-living counterpart, with 531,000 DNA building blocks containing 473 genes. (Humans have more than 3 billion building blocks and more than 20,000 genes).

But even this stripped-down organism is full of mystery. Scientists say they have little to no idea what a third of its genes actually do.

“We’re showing how complex life is, even in the simplest of organisms,” researcher J. Craig Venter told reporters. “These findings are very humbling.” (Read more from “Scientists Create Ultra-Simplified Bacteria but Discover Life Is Still Mind-Boggling Complex” HERE)

_______________________________________

Scientists Create Tiniest Life Form yet, Not Sure What It Is

By Eric Roston. For years, DNA and computer operating systems served as cliches for each other: DNA is the “operating software” of living cells in the same way that system software is the “DNA” of a computer.

The problem with the comparison, as shown by research two decades in the making, is how much biologists still don’t know about DNA, or genomes. That’s an especially problematic development, given the industry sprouting up around genetic manipulation.

Genomics pioneer Craig Venter and more than 20 colleagues engineered a living microbe with a genome simpler than any seen in nature. In other words, they created a life form whose relative simplicity and modular design make it a platform that one day may be as easily manipulated as, say, software. Setting aside fears of Blade Runner replicants running amok, the breakthrough revealed on Thursday in the journal Science may hold promise for a new era in medicine, industry, and energy. (Read more from “Scientists Create Tiniest Life Form yet, Not Sure What It Is” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.