Friday, May 21, 2010

Craig Venter unveils "synthetic life" - follow up

Some TED talk links and articles.
- LRK -

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Craig Venter unveils "synthetic life"
http://www.ted.com/talks/craig_venter_unveils_synthetic_life.html

About this talk

Craig Venter and team make a historic announcement: they've created the first fully functioning, reproducing cell controlled by synthetic DNA. He explains how they did it and why the achievement marks the beginning of a new era for science.
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[As a TED talk it is 18 minutes and chops off some of the questions seen on other posts - LRK -]
Interesting comments below the video link.
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Another post with more information and links to the TED talk.
- LRK -

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http://integral-options.blogspot.com/2010/05/ted-talks-craig-venter-unveils.html
Integral Options Cafe

TED Talks - Craig Venter Unveils "Synthetic Life"

Life re-created. Blue colonies (top) indicate a successfully transplanted genome, with self-replicating bacteria revealed in an electron micrograph.
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Citation:

   Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome
   Daniel G. Gibson,1 John I. Glass,1 Carole Lartigue,1 Vladimir N.
Noskov,1 Ray-Yuan Chuang,1 Mikkel A. Algire,1 Gwynedd A. Benders,2
Michael G. Montague,1 Li Ma,1 Monzia M. Moodie,1 Chuck Merryman,1
Sanjay Vashee,1 Radha Krishnakumar,1 Nacyra Assad-Garcia,1 Cynthia
Andrews-Pfannkoch,1 Evgeniya A. Denisova,1 Lei Young,1 Zhi-Qing Qi,1
Thomas H. Segall-Shapiro,1 Christopher H. Calvey,1 Prashanth P.
Parmar,1 Clyde A. Hutchison, III,2 Hamilton O. Smith,2 J. Craig
Venter1,2,*

   We report the design, synthesis, and assembly of the 1.08-Mbp Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0 genome starting from digitized genome sequence information and its transplantation into a Mycoplasma capricolum recipient cell to create new Mycoplasma mycoides cells that are controlled only by the synthetic chromosome. The only DNA in the cells is the designed synthetic DNA sequence, including "watermark" sequences and other designed gene deletions and polymorphisms, and mutations acquired during the building process. The new cells have expected phenotypic properties and are capable of continuous self-replication.

   1 The J. Craig Venter Institute, 9704 Medical Center Drive,
Rockville, MD 20850, USA.
   2 The J. Craig Venter Institute, 10355 Science Center Drive, San
Diego, CA 92121, USA.

   * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jcventer@jcvi.org

   Received for publication 9 April 2010. Accepted for publication 13 May 2010.

Science has made the article available for free (download the PDF -
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/rapidpdf/science.1190719v1.pdf). 
You can also read a free summary article at the Science site, written by Elizabeth Pennisi.
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/328/5981/958

It took 20 years and an around $40 million to get to this point, which is revealed online by the journal Science.

   Craig Venter and team make a historic announcement: they've created the first fully functioning, reproducing cell controlled by synthetic DNA. He explains how they did it and why the achievement marks the beginning of a new era for science.

   Venter, the man who led the private effort to sequence the human genome, is hard at work now on even more potentially world-changing projects.

   First, there's his mission aboard the Sorcerer II, a 92-foot yacht, which, in 2006, finished its voyage around the globe to sample, catalouge and decode the genes of the ocean's unknown microorganisms.  Quite a task, when you consider that there are tens of millions of microbes in a single drop of sea water. Then there's the J. Craig Venter Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to researching genomics and exploring its societal implications.

   In 2005, Venter founded Synthetic Genomics, a private company with a provocative mission: to engineer new life forms. Its goal is to design, synthesize and assemble synthetic microorganisms that will produce alternative fuels, such as ethanol or hydrogen. He was on Time magzine's 2007 list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.

   In early 2008, scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute announced that they had manufactured the entire genome of a bacterium by painstakingly stitching together its chemical components. By sequencing a genome, scientists can begin to custom-design bootable organisms, creating biological robots that can produce from scratch chemicals humans can use, such as biofuel. And in 2010, they announced, they had created "synthetic life" -- DNA created digitally, inserted into a living bacterium, and remaining alive.

       "Either he is one of this era's most electrifying scientists, or he's one of the most maddening." ~Washington Post
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[TED talk link]

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and from MEFEDiA feed
http://www.mefeedia.com/video/31298583
Craig Venter unveils "synthetic life"

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http://www.jcvi.org/
J. Craig Venter Institute
FIRST SELF-REPLICATING SYNTHETIC BACTERIAL CELL

http://www.jcvi.org/cms/research/projects/first-self-replicating-synthetic-bacterial-cell/video/
Video
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Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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