Scientists have taken a big step toward designing complex forms of life from scratch by constructing five new artificial chromosomes of baker's yeast, representing a third of the micro-organism's genome, or genetic blueprint. The international team used computers to create laboratory-made versions of the threadlike structures that carry genetic code inside cells. New strains of synthetic yeast could be put to work to produce novel medicines, chemicals and biofuels. The work also serves as a foundation for a more ambitious project to synthesize a human genome in the next 10 years. The natural baker's yeast genome consists of 12 million base pairs but the synthetic version is about eight per cent smaller as scientists have removed some non-coding "junk" DNA.

Source: CBC News March 09, 2017 21:00 UTC