Scientists create first synthetic chromosome - The Nation Costa Rica

Washington and Paris. AFP and EFE. A team international scientists created the first chromosome completely made in a laboratory from yeast.

The achievement is considered a great find in synthetic biology, which seeks to design agencies since its inception most basic, indicate two articles in magazines Science and Nature .

had already managed to build chromosomes of bacteria and viruses, this is the first time a chromosome to a eukaryotic organism, which are more complex is created (they are composed of cells with distinct nuclei and organized cytoplasm).

Thus, the first synthetic chromosome Tsar allow advanced research to produce new medicines and biofuels.

Scientists led by Jef Boeke Langone Medical Center University of New York, made the first artificial copy of a yeast chromosome.

The research was input from scientists in the U.S.. UU. and Europe and took over seven years.

In the process, the scientists were able to cut, split and manipulate DNA of yeast used to make beer until the first chromosome made entirely a laboratory.

Boeke began research at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, and with the collaboration of his students to make the daunting task of creating this genome, which required 273,871 join base pairs of yeast chromosomes. This amount is less than its natural counterpart whose genome has exactly 316,667 pairs.

The scientists began with the DNA fragments available and were added to other majors. Later added to yeast cells so that finally succeeded in producing a totally artificial version of the chromosome.

This was due to the team of specialists made alterations in the genetic basis of This DNA, including the elimination of redundant portions of the chromosome for reproduction and growth.

The eukaryotic chromosome (a structure containing the genes in the nucleus of cells of all plants and animals), which experienced unprecedented changes, then joined live yeast cells.

latter behave normally, but have new properties that do not have natural yeast, stressed the researchers, who recalled that the yeast has a total of 16 pairs of chromosomes, while humans have 23 pairs.

Once completed the experiment, Boeke said the entire chromosome was “amazingly normal” and that the yeast with synthetic DNA “You behaved almost identically to natural yeast cells.”