Scientists use DNA to make virus
US scientists have produced a wholly artificial virus using a method they claim could lead to new
lifeforms. These synthetic organisms - on the scale of bacteria - could be engineered to produce
clean energy or mop up pollution, the researchers say.
It is only the second time a virus has been constructed from scratch in the lab, but the new effort
is said to produce substantially quicker results.
The work is reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
First steps
It was conducted at the Institute of Biological Energy Alternatives in Rockville, Maryland, by Dr
Craig Venter and colleagues.
Dr Venter was the man who led the private effort to decode the human genome.
He told a news conference on Thursday that being able to make a synthetic virus was just the start
of an exercise that would lead to completely artificial or engineered bacteria.
"It's an interim step. Now we have the enabling technology to take us to these next exciting
frontiers," Dr Venter said.
For now, "this is basic science at the most basic level with lots of unknowns".
But he added: "The ability to construct synthetic genomes may lead to extraordinary advances in our
ability to engineer micro-organisms for many vital energy and environmental purposes".
To make the synthetic virus, Dr Venter's team assembled and spliced together segments of DNA.
Read the rest at BBC news.bbc.co.uk3268259.stmOpen ↗
Kind Regards, Robert Karl Stonjek.