Culturing Cells With Genomes

Creating life in a test-tube moved a little closer to reality, if not actually arriving.  Researches at the J. Craig Venter Institute (Rockville, MD) were able to synthesize an entire bacterial genome that also included an antibiotic-resistance gene.  Then, they cultured cells and the synthetic genomes together before exposing the mix to an antibiotic that killed all the cells without the resistance gene.  The survivors all contained the synthetic genome.           MORE

Image Credit: Ryan Donnell and Technology Review