E coli microbes have been modified to carry an expanded genetic code which researchers say will ultimately allow them to be programmed.
“This is a major step forward in showing that a living cell such as a simple bacterium can be engineered to sustain a synthetic base pair not found in nature,” said Paul Freemont, who specializes in synthetic biology at Imperial College in London. “This leads to the concept of semi-synthetic living systems that could be engineered to perform specific functions that would rely on a distinct genetic code compared to the natural genetic code.”