Yale, Harvard Scientists Change An Organism's Entire Genome

In an advance that could help battle disease and create new biotech materials, researchers at Yale and Harvard universities have fundamentally changed an organism's genome for the first time.

The researchers developed a new genome for an e.coli bacterium by replacing one kind of codon a sequence of three nucleotides that regulates amino acids with another kind of codon. Scientists have previously replaced genes, but this is the first time that such changes have been across the an organism's genome, the complex blueprint of life.

The study is published in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

By recoding the genome, researchers say, the bacteria will be able to produce proteins that don't occur in nature, creating the possibility of new drugs and biotechnology materials.

For instance, the researchers say it could lead to the use of virus-resistant organisms in the biotech industry. Viruses use the proteins produced by the host organism, such as a bacteria, to infect cells, but doing this requires that the virus and host have the same genetic sequences. If the organism contains a new genetic code, the virus is rendered powerless because it can no longer properly produce proteins.

"By changing the code, we're establishing the fundamental proof of principle that they can be resistant to viruses," said the paper's co-senior author, Farren Isaacs, assistant professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at Yale. George Church, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, is the study's other senior author.

By using organisms with recoded genomes, Isaacs said, biotech companies could stave off the kind of havoc that a single viral infection can cause. For instance, Genzyme, a Massachusetts-based biotech company that shut down for three months and suffered up to $1 billion in damages after a viral contamination.

"If you could use a genetically recoded organism, it could mean a striking decrease in the rate of viral infections," Isaacs said.

The research could also potentially allay fears about genetically modified organisms, he said, because the recoded organisms would be unable to infect natural organisms in the wild.

Brenton Graveley, professor of genetics and developmental biology at the UConn Health Center, said the research could have "profound possibilities" for synthetic biology the field of creating new organisms through genetic manipulation.

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Yale, Harvard Scientists Change An Organism's Entire Genome