On May 21, 2010, "Science" reported that the Venter group had successfully synthesized the genome of the bacterium "Mycoplasma mycoides" from a computer record, and transplanted the synthesized genome into the existing cell of a "Mycoplasma capricolum" bacterium that had its DNA removed. The "synthetic" bacterium was viable, i.e. capable of replicating billions of times. The team had originally planned to use the "M. genitalium" bacterium they had previously been working with, but switched to "M. mycoides" because the latter bacterium grows much faster, which translated into quicker experiments. Venter describes it as "the first species... to have its parents be a computer". The transformed bacterium is dubbed "Synthia" by ETC. A Venter spokesperson has declined to confirm any breakthrough at the time of this writing.