Playing God: J. Craig Venter and the synthetic genome

Bacterial cells transformed with watermarked
synthetic DNA (A, blue) and untransformed host cells (B)

Robot servants. Flying cars. Private jetpacks. Fanciful visions of future technologies often center on personal luxuries, but researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute believe that our future demands solutions to problems that will challenge the human ability to succeed as a species. Their answer to these challenges: synthetic biology. In 1995, Venter and colleagues began to develop strategies for inserting an artificially produced genome into a donor cell that would use it as its own code for life. This work culminated in 2010, when the Venter group successfully transplanted a synthetic genome from one bacterial species into a host cell of a different species, placing the host exclusively under the control of synthetic DNA and effectively transforming it into the other species. Venter hopes that this work will spark a revolution, allowing humans to design and implement living systems to deal with global challenges ranging from energy production to medicine.

• The original article

A review of emerging tools for synthetic genome design and application