An article published in the journal “Science” describes the creation of a bacterium with a minimal DNA, meaning that it’s made up of only 473 genes needed for its survival. A team of scientists led by the pioneer of genetic engineering Craig Venter eliminated the other genes obtaining an organism called JCVI-syn3.0 or simply Syn3.0.

This result is the culmination of over 20 years of research on genetic techniques. It all began in 1995 with the sequencing of the DNA of a bacterium called Mycoplasma genitalium. Today that’s nothing special but at the time the result was an important event. That was only the start because Craig Venter and his collaborators started experimenting with the bacterium’s DNA to understand how its genes work, which ones were really needed and which ones had functions that could be eliminated.

Another milestone in the field of genetics came in 2010, when Craig Venter announced the creation of a synthetic bacterium in which part of the Mycoplasma genitalium’s DNA had been replaced with that from another bacterium, Mycoplasma mycoides. The resulting microbe was called JCVI-syn1.0 and sparked several controversies regarding the definition of synthetic life but also on ethical issues.

In subsequent years, Craig Venter and his colleagues at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) and Synthetic Genomics, Inc. (SGI), including the current project leader Clyde Hutchinson, kept on working to determine the minimum number of genes needed to keep the bacterium alive eliminating all those not indispensable to 1.0 Syn.

After passing through an intermediate stage called Syn 2.0 that had a genome more or less halved compared to Syn 1.0, the team achieved the final result called Syn 3.0. This new organism reproduces in about 3 hours versus the 18 hours of the original Mycoplasma genitalium.

It’s a great achievement in the field of genetic research but there are still many questions that scientists need to find answers to. The functions of many genes have yet to be understood because of many of those of Syn 3.0 they only know that they are indispensable but nothing else. For Craig Venter that’s the next step in the research.

Meanwhile, a bacterium such as Syn 3.0 with a minimal DNA could be exploited as a kind of basic organism to which they can add genes to produce substances such as medicinals or biofuels. That’s another of the frontiers of genetic engineering that will surely be full of news in the coming years.

Someone called Syn 3.0 the first synthetic life form. Here we must first establish the definitions because it’s a natural bacterium modified like Syn 1.0 was. The changes in Syn 3.0 are the most radical but in recent years the number of genetically modified organisms has become significant so what does synthetic life mean?

Progress in this field will also bring new definitions as well as many discussions. Genetic technologies are here so someone will use them and it’s better to think about using them well than looking for useless prohibitions that would only allow others, such as the Chinese, to obtain the greatest benefits.