Ventner Builds First Self-Replicating Synthetic Bacteria Cell 215.0
Craig Ventner, who first mapped the human genome, achieved another first.
His research team at the J. Craig Ventner Institute (JCVI) assembled the first self-replicating synthetic bacterial cell.
The discovery is path-breaking as it can lead to new products like “advanced biofuels, clean water technology, and new vaccines.”
Other than the products, the experimental and production processes will likewise yield a whole set of new knowledge in the new field of synthetic biology that can open doors not only to quick experiments, rapid prototyping, and efficient production and eventually other new products as well.
(Picture credit: PCR test tubes. Taken from Wikipedia under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 license.)
Experimental process. The discovery process involved a design and rapid prototyping effort using computers to pre-test the actual laboratory work. This experimental method is right at the very frontier of material science, i.e. the design of these research tools is a major research area in itself, that goes with the leading edge science research.
We noted the need for this virtuous cycle of tool design, i.e. material science, and of the basic research itself as necessary requirements for the development new knowledge at the frontier in our earlier post on Kuhn and Galison on March 5, 2009.
The final laboratory prototyping and the new material science led into the successful result that they consider at this moment of the announcement as ‘proof of concept.’
The next stage of the experiment is higher volume prototyping and testing to measure the robustness of design as the research begins its journey through the start of the development process.
Experiment history and results. Historically, the worked built on previous JCVI research especially a 2008 experiment that succeeded in synthesizing M. mycoides but failed to activate the genome at the time.
The discovery is considered very significant because it involved building the foundation DNAs by chemistry, loading it into another bacteria to synthesize, then transferring to M. mycoides to make it replicate itself.
There were moments of concern when the first attempts at replication failed. The JCVI researchers were able to go back and evaluate the eleven individual bio-ingredients, find out the one with some missing element, build that element into the bio-ingredient, and finally make the whole cocktail work.
The have included some ‘watermarks,’ literally, into this final cocktail to provide an ownership trail including the names of the 46 researchers and three quotations including, “To Live, To Err, To Fall, To Triumph, To Recreate Life Out Of Life,” by James Joyce.
Concern for Bioethics. Throughout the whole experimental process, Craig Ventner and JCVI were careful in addressing the bioethics concerns to preempt the expected issue that they are acting like God in creating life.
The JCVI describes the 15-year research efforts in the new field of synthetic biology viaa press release on May 20.
JCVI will publish the result of the experiment in the May issue of Science.
Visit the website of J. Craig Ventner Institute to learn more about the exciting discovery.
