Forgot your password?

Comment: Doesn't anyone RTFA? (Score 5, Informative) 188

by mck9 (#24086143) Attached to: First DNA Molecule Constructed from Mostly Synthetic Components

No, this isn't ordinary DNA produced by synthetic means. If that were the case, it would be of little interest to anyone but a few specialists.

What's new is that THIS synthetic DNA uses a different set of bases. not the usual C, G, T, and A.

Presumably, therefore, it cannot usefully be read or replicated by the usual cellular machinery. That incompatibility makes it, arguably, less of a biohazard (or maybe more of a biohazard, since it might bind to the cellular machinery and gum up the works).

The potential applications for this synthetic DNA apparently involve using it as a structural component of nanostructures. Theoretically it could be used for high-density data storage, though it's hard to imagine how the information could be either written or read.
