Craig Venter: DNA-burners

As we reported in June, Craig Venter has decided that DNA-reading has become a trivial science and he was working on DNA-burners.

The Guardian informs us

that the first material result is a 381-gene-long chromosome with 580,000 pairs of genetic code based on Mycoplasma genitalium: Mr Craig was inspired by a bacterium created by his colleague, Ms Nature. The synthetic organism will be a microscopic parasite.



Video 1: Wall Street Journal interviewed J. Craig Venter a week ago. In the first part they talk about his personal DNA code that he has published so that you can create your own Venter in your lab. ;-) Since 3:00, they discuss the synthetic life - including genetic engineering of new fuels.



Figure 1: A more advanced result of his line of research. The corn develops an XBOX360 at the center. Patent pending. Hat tip: Viktor K.