1st synthetic DNA made

Gene designer:
Craig Venter
Taking a significant step toward the creation of man-made forms of life, researchers reported on Thursday that they had manufactured the entire genome of a bacterium by painstakingly stitching together its chemical components.
While scientists had previously synthesized the complete DNA of viruses, this is the first time it has been done for bacteria. The feat is a watershed for synthetic biology, which involves the design of organisms to perform particular tasks, such as making biofuels.synthethetic biologists envision being able one day to design an organism on a computer, press the print button to have the necessary DNA made, and then put that DNA into cell to produce a custom-made creature. “What we are doing with the synthetic chromosome is going to be the design process of the future,”said J Craig Venter, the boundary-pushing Gene scientists. There are concerns that synthetic biology could be used to make pathogens, or that errors by well-intended scientists could produce organisms that run amok. The synthetic genome made by Venter’s team was not designed from scratch, but rather was a copy, with only a few changes, of the genetic sequence of a tiny natural bacterium called MYCOPLASMA GENITALIUM.
Moreover, Venter’s team has so far failed to accomplish the next and biggest step. That would be to insert the synthetic chromosome into a living microbe and have it boot up and take control of the organisms functioning

Source:
NYT NEWS SERVICE
Times of India dated Saturday, January 26, 2008