Scientists Create Man-Made DNA

Chemical biologists at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA, announced the creation of man-made DNA last week. Prior to their work, all DNA contained only the four nucleotide bases: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T). But the Scripps researchers created two additional molecules, denoting them as X and Y. The artificial nucleotides were inserted into e-coli bacteria which then reproduced normally and passed along the new genetic units.
“This is the first experimental demonstration that life can exist with information that’s not coded the way nature does (it),” said Floyd Romesberg, an associate professor of chemistry at Scripps. The announcement was the culmination of a 15-year project, and was accompanied by an article published Wednesday in science journal, Nature.
The work raises the possibility of creating new medicines that have more than the four natural nucleotides, of life engineered with none of them, or of life with no DNA at all. Ethical debates regarding the emerging field of synthetic biology are expected.