Researchers first synthesized DNA with three base pairs

American scientists from TSRI (The Scripps Research Institute, Scripps Research Institute ) was first synthesized DNA with three base pairs and raised on the basis of its culture of bacteria capable of reproducing itself . Biologists have presented their work in the journal Nature, briefly with its results are available online at Phys.org.
Scientists were able to synthesize an artificial plasmid with the third base pair and embed it into the DNA of cells of Escherichia coli. The resulting plasmid contains , in addition to natural DNA of pairs of complementary bases adenine (A) and thymine (T), guanine (G) and cytosine (C), the artificial base pairs , denoted by the authors as X and Y. Academic achieved reproduction semisynthetic DNA plasmids without loss of artificial DNA component . To do this, biologists used special transporter , without which an artificial base pair of DNA disappears . Thus , scientists were able to gain control over the synthetic DNA .


Researchers have been working to develop an artificial DNA since the late 1990s ; main challenge was choosing artificial base pairs , compatible with natural DNA and capable of self-replication . Already in 2008, biologists have published an article that identified a set of nucleosides inserted into a double stranded DNA is similar natural grounds , and capable of replication in the presence of the necessary enzymes. In 2009, scientists found a family of enzymes capable of transcribing a semi-synthetic DNA into RNA . However, at that time the researchers could not get you to work in conditions of artificial DNA of living cells .
In the future, the researchers plan in conditions of artificial cells transcribe DNA corresponding RNA. At the same time , according to scientists with the RNA will generate new amino acids whose properties can be quite unexpected. Artificial DNA , according to researchers , may occupy an important place in medicine for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of various diseases , as well as in agriculture.