Hello Syn

We live in a wondrous time. We can 3D print almost anything, including human tissues. Biotechnology is revolutionizing the energy industry and personalized medicine delivers individual treatments for heart disease and other major illnesses. And now. we can create life!

Actually, we're on version 3.0. Scientists have made a living bacterium using DNA created in a test tube. The focus of this study was to determine the minimal essential genes required for life in a microbial organism. The process is called synthetic biology.

The first synthetic organism, called syn 1.0, was made in 2010 when researchers reproduced the chromosome of a tiny bacterium that was used to take over the empty shell of another. For the past six years, they've been trying to determine which genes in syn 1.0 they could cut and still maintain life. They finally accomplished the feat recently in syn 3.0. At 473-genes, this reproducing bacterium has the smallest number of genes for a free-living organism.

They did this through extensive trial and error. Researchers began systematically eliminating and adding back various genes hundreds of times to figure out what was essential. What's remarkable is that though they know which genes are essential, the functions of a third remain unknown. That just shows how little we understand life. If a third of what keeps the tiniest life going is a mystery, imagine the complexity of the human genome.

The study has created excitement among scientists eager to use syn 3.0 to understand the function of each essential gene to life. They're also eager to understand the mystery genes which may hold many implications for human health.