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ARTIFICIAL POLYMERS EVOLVE. "We also select XNA aptamers, which bind their targets with high affinity and specificity, demonstrating that beyond heredity, specific XNAs have the capacity for Darwinian evolution and folding into defined structures. Thus, heredity and evolution, two hallmarks of life, are not limited to DNA and RNA but are likely to be emergent properties of polymers capable of information storage." (XDNA = xeno-nucleic acids). https://lnkd.in/dbgtZme View in LinkedIn

SYNTHETIC LIFE RACE. "‘Minimal’ cell raises stakes in race to harness synthetic life. Genomics entrepreneur Craig Venter has created a synthetic cell that contains the smallest genome of any known, independent organism. Functioning with 473 genes, the cell is a milestone in his team’s 20-year quest to reduce life to its bare essentials and, by extension, to design life from scratch." http://www.nature.com/news/minimal-cell-raises-stakes-in-race-to-harness-synthetic-life-1.19633 View in LinkedIn

INFORMATION STORAGE IN ARTIFICIAL DNA. "With the use of polymerase evolution and design, we show that genetic information can be stored in and recovered from six alternative genetic polymers based on simple nucleic acid architectures not found in nature [xeno-nucleic acids (XNAs)]." https://lnkd.in/dbgtZme View in LinkedIn

MINIMAL GENOME. "Venter and his colleagues also synthesized a trimmed down, artificial version of Mycoplasma's DNA, a project known as the Minimal Genome Project. Attempts to implant the synthetic DNA all failed, until now." https://lnkd.in/e9ZJKP5 View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this first weekend case study about knowledge from other cultures that has been very slow to diffuse: in this case, the beneficial effects of physical stimulation in plants. This Japanese case mirrors that of the uses of bacteriophages as antibiotics in Russia: in both cases, the original reports lay obscure for decades in publications written in Japanese and Russian respectively. And when eventually discovered, were treated with overt skepticism or hostility by western scientists. View in LinkedIn

GENOME TRANSPLANTATION. "In 2007 Venter transplanted the genome of one Mycoplasma bacterium into another." https://lnkd.in/e9ZJKP5 View in LinkedIn

THIGMOMORPHOGENESIS in trees, a summary. "Influence of mechanical stimuli on plants recognized at least since Theophrastus (300 B.C.E.)." https://lnkd.in/dDZREnK View in LinkedIn

CRAG VENTER TED talk on his synthetic cell. "Craig Venter and team make a historic announcement: they've created the first fully functioning, reproducing cell controlled by synthetic DNA. He explains how they did it and why the achievement marks the beginning of a new era for science." https://lnkd.in/dezjjjG View in LinkedIn

HUMAN-DIRECTED EVOLUTION. "Molecular technologies are now adding a further layer to this information flow. For the first time in 3.7 billion years, the Central Dogma has acquired an additional step, to include digital storage of biological information." https://lnkd.in/eKjEK6c View in LinkedIn

ARTIFICIAL EVOLUTION. "Such technologies might become a significant mechanism for creation and manipulation of organisms, allowing directed and ‘artificial’ evolution." https://lnkd.in/eKjEK6c View in LinkedIn