I found some emails in my outbox that I guess didn’t generate any responses, but I still think they are interesting so will post them here…
Synthetic DNA added to yeast cells, paving way for ‘evolution’ on demand
Scientists’ feat could lead to better biofuels and vaccines, and is a significant step towards completely synthetic organisms
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/sep/14/synthetic-dna-in-yeast-breakthrough
I was doing this 20 years ago on a small scale and the ‘official’ human genome sequencing relied on ‘bacterial artificial chromosomes’ and for an absolute minimum people have been adding artificial chromosomes to yeast for a decade, and further, people have been subtracting and disabling genes for at least as long. Where is the news in this article? I can only think either a totally ignorant reporter who never had a biotech class in his life felt this was somehow special or there is a conspiracy to keep the readers (fewer and fewer each year, I know) bamboozled by thinking things are happening when they aren’t.
