Life without any pieces of natural DNA.

22 May 2010 J.Craig Venter	The most remarkable thing about the synthetic cell, a JCVI scientist explained, is that its "genome was brought to life through chemical synthesis, without using any pieces of natural DNA." The implications of the breakthrough was not lost on the founder of the institute J Craig Venter, the maverick American biologist and entrepreneur who is most famous for his role in sequencing one of the first human genomes.
	Scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute have created a synthetic cell that can survive and reproduce itself according to an artificial DNA sequence, promising designer genomes with which researchers can produce sophisticated artificial organisms. The new bacterial cell, "Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0," is the result of a 15-year, $30 million effort by genetics pioneer Craig Venter. The study, led by the institute's Dan Gibson, is reported in the May 21 edition of the journal Science. M. mycoides JCVI-syn1.0 cells are seen dividing in this transmission electron micrograph. (Credit: J. Craig Venter Institute) The team of 25 researchers took Mycoplasma capricolum bacteria and completely rewrote its genetic code of more than 1 million base pairs of DNA. The data was sequenced as chemical DNA fragments and sewn together using yeast and E. coli bacteria.

Human Beings created from "Nutfa"	The human being is created from "Nutfa" which means a minute quantity of liquid or a trickle of liquid which remains after emptying a cup or a bucket. This is mentioned in several verses of the Qur'an like surah Al-Hajj (chapter 22) verse 5, and surah Al-Mominun (chapter 23, verse 14). Science has confirmed in recent times that only one of the 300 million sperms is required for fertilisation of the ovum; this means that only a 1/300 millionth part or 0.000000003 quantity of sperms that are emitted is required for fertilisation.
	As described today in the journal Science, the study scientists constructed the genome of the bacteriumMycoplasma mycoides from more than 1,000 sections of preassembled units of DNA. Researchers thentransplanted the artificially assembled genome into aM. capricolum cell that had been emptied of its own genome. Once the DNA "booted up," the bacteria began to function and reproduce in the same manner as naturally occurring M. mycoides. "It's a culmination of a series of impressive steps," Ron Weiss, an associate professor of biological engineering at MIT who was not associated with the study, told LiveScience.com. "If you look over the last few years, at what they've been able to produce, it's definitely impressive. Being able to create genomes of this scale? That's impressive." To boot up, the DNA utilized elements of the M. capricolum recipient cells, according to study team member Carole Lartigue of the Venter Institute. The bacterial cells still contained certain "machinery" that let them carry out the process of expressing a gene, or taking the genetic code and using it to build proteins – called transcription. When the artificial genome entered the cell, the cellular machines that run DNA transcription recognized the DNA, and began doing their job, Lartigue said.
Abstract	We report the design, synthesis, and assembly of the 1.08–mega–base pair Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0 genome starting from digitized genome sequence information and its transplantation into a M. capricolum recipient cell to create new M. mycoides cells that are controlled only by the synthetic chromosome. The only DNA in the cells is the designed synthetic DNA sequence, including “watermark” sequences and other designed gene deletions and polymorphisms, and mutations acquired during the building process. The new cells have expected phenotypic properties and are capable of continuous self-replication.
	Plants: biofactories for a sustainable future?Phil Trans R Soc A 13 May 2011: 1826-1839. GENOMICSSynthetic Genome Brings New Life to Bacterium Elizabeth Pennisi Science 21 May 2010: 958-959.
	Reductionistic and Holistic ScienceInfect. Immun. 1 April 2011: 1401-1404. The Anthropocene: conceptual and historical perspectivesPhil Trans R Soc A 13 March 2011: 842-867.