Question

Over one million total bases were inserted into M. capricolum. The final result was a bacterial cell that originated from M. capricolum, but behaved like and expressed the proteins of M. mycoides. This synthetic M. mycoides bacterium was also able to self-replicate, a fundamental quality of life. 71 The demonstration that completely synthetic genomes can be used to start synthetic life promises other exciting discoveries and technologies. For example, photosynthetic algae could be transplanted with genomes that would enable these organisms to produce biofuel. In fact, the ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company has already worked out an agreement with Synthetic Genomics, the company that helped fund the JCVI research team, to start just such a project. Select one: a. True b. Not Given c. False

Answer 1

True

Explanation:

The Craig Venter Institute developed the first self-replicating bacterium cell by inserting artificial genetic information (DNA) chemically synthesized in the laboratory. Interestingly, this bacterium contains a few 'watermarks' inserted in the DNA sequence as a signature of its synthetic origin derived from the laboratory data. In line with this, ExxonMobil and Synthetic Genomics Inc. are working together to develop a biotechnological technology based on the exploitation of algae biodiversity for producing biofuel at higher yields in the next years.