Create five artificial yeast chromosomes

2017/03/09 Agirre Ruiz de Arkaute, Aitziber - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Genetika

The international Legamien Synthetic Genome project has borne new fruit: five new artificial chromosomes have already been created in the laboratory. The first synthetic chromosome of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, synthesized three years ago by the genetic team> Boeke, was then considered a key step in creating an artificial eukaryotic life. With the new achievement, they have already passed a third of the yeast genome and has been put by researchers near the creation of artificial yeasts. And they have survived.

In addition, they have already finished the design of this hypothetical synthetic eukaryote genome, they just need to synthesize. They should form 10 of the 16 yeast chromosomes. According to the researchers, the new design presents numerous adaptations to the original, since it has eliminated dysfunctional sequences and introduced gene-free on and off regulatory sequences. They have removed, inserted or modified 1.1 megabase of genome.

The design has been carried out through BioStudio open source software, and according to the researchers, by allowing the design of custom chromosomes, an appropriate design strategy of adequate design will be available questions that would be very difficult to answer otherwise, such as which sequences can be removed without endangering the life of yeast, which are absolutely necessary for life and how the evolution of all them is. The genome undergoes continuous changes: lessons, duplications, vaccinations, changes and invasions of genetic elements, whose resolution would allow us to better understand the genome of eukaryotes.

Science magazine has released all the progress of the project.