One of modern biologists’ most ambitious goals is to learn how to expand or otherwise modify the genetic code of life on Earth, in order to make new, artificial life forms. Part of the motivation for this “synthetic biology” research is to understand more about the evolution and the logic of the natural biology we’ve inherited. But there’s also a very practical motivation: Cells can be used as efficient factories for making a broad array of useful molecules — especially protein-based therapeutics, which account for an increasing share of new medicines. Cells working with an expanded genetic code could make a much more diverse set of such medicines and could do so in a way that greatly simplifies the overall process of developing and manufacturing them.
The realization of the grand goal of a working, useful synthetic biology is still some years off. But in a study published this week…
