Changing the genetic code of life

In August, Science published a fascinating study from a team working in MIT.

The team has designed a synthetic Escherichia coli genome that could use a protein-coding scheme different from the one employed by all known life.

The team reduced the number of codons from 64 to 57 codons.

It is a new step in the engineering of E. Coli and synthetic biology.

The one of the overall goal of this kind of researcher is to create engineered bacteria for industrial purposes. But it also allow us to understand better our biology and its limits.

You can read more details on Science: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/353/6301/819

Enjoy!