ARTICLES
Stimulus Material for depth studies, courtesy of Macquarie University (continued)
Chromosome 14 complete
Macquarie University researchers have completed chromosome 14 of the synthetic yeast genome, or what
they’re dubbing yeast 2.0. The only previous synthetic genome created was of a much simpler bacterium.
Department of Molecular Sciences’ Ian Paulsen and his team are part of an international consortium of scientists
across five countries and 14 different institutions, working together to create yeast 2.0—the world’s first synthetic
genome of a more complex, eukaryotic, organism.
“We design the DNA on a computer, chemically synthesise it, and then replace 50,000 base pairs of the
chromosome’s approximately one million base pairs at a time,” explains Ian. A quarter or a third of the time, the
yeast becomes “sick” when the new synthetic DNA is added and the team have to figure out why. “One of the
most surprising findings so far is the profound effect some minor changes have—those we would think would be
of little consequence—versus making larger changes that have had no impact at all,” says Ian.
But each step forward or backwards in the lab is a step towards better understanding what we can do to
living cells and genomes, he says. “This project is a proof of principle that it can be done, and it is teaching us
lessons on how to design genomes—where the pitfalls are and where the opportunities are.” In the short term,
Ian says, synthetic yeast would be used as a lab tool, but in five to ten years we could be talking about creating
synthetic plant or mouse genomes.
“This opens up the possibility we can design organisms from scratch and then synthesise them,” he says. The
team is now working on completing chromosome 16, and it is hoped the entire project will be completed some
time next year.
Find out more
Syllabus link: B
iology Module 6 Genetic Change
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SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 68 NO 1