Press conference on the results of the yeast genome synthesis project "Artificial Regeneration Life".

"This is a major breakthrough in the history of human understanding of nature, from our original understanding of nature to the present redesign of nature, of course, according to the laws of nature, that is to say, from the genome reading, interpretation to today's redesign.
" March 11, held in Shenzhen, "artificial regenerative life" yeast genome synthesis project results press conference, said Yang Huanming, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, huada gene director.
to the excitement, he accent-biting, hand-to-hand.
press conference on the results of the yeast genome synthesis project "Artificial Regeneration Life".
the academic results will be held in the press release hall of the Shenzhen Civic Center, the Shenzhen Municipal Government Executive Vice Mayor Zhang Hu attended the press conference and made a speech, said "strongly support the development of innovative institutions such as Huada Gene."
March 10, Science published seven special articles on synthetic yeast chromosomes.
this phase was carried out by teams from the United States, China, the United Kingdom and France, in an international research project led by Jeff Boeke, a member of the American Academy of Sciences.
the cover of Science magazine, four papers by Chinese scientists introduced the major breakthroughs in synthetic biology at Tianjin University, Tsinghua University and Shenzhen Huada Genetic Research Institute: the completion of the synthesis of four chromosomes of yeast from true nuclear organisms.
synthetic genes, in short, humans are given the privilege of "God" to "write" genes that determine the characteristics of life, which could be compared to computer programming in the future.
Yang Huanming (in collaboration with Cai Yizhi of the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom), Yuan Yingjin, a professor at tianjin University's School of Chemical Engineering, and Dai Junhui, a researcher at Tsinghua University's School of Life Sciences, appeared in four of the articles as correspondents.
the three teams in China successfully synthesized four chromosomes of single-celled ucleo-bioalycer in a laboratory, highly similar to wild yeast.
16 chromosomes, the first of which was synthesized in 2014, and the U.S. team has completed a total of six chromosomes.
, Chinese scientists account for 66.7% of yeast synthesis chromosome completion.
follows the success of Craig Venter, an American scientist who led the Human Genome Project, in 2010 in synthesized genomes in bacteria.
from the bacteria of the primary nucleus to the yeast of the nucleus is a jump, they contain a large difference in the number of base pairs, chromosomal synthesis is also very difficult.
2014, Jeff Bock completed the first synthetic chromosome of single-celled uenomial yeast.
, Jeff thought that within two years, they could synthesize all 16 chromosomes of yeast and artificially add 17 chromosomes.
but the reality is somewhat different, until this time there has been a greater progress.
it's worth noting that Jeff Bock's team's first yeast chromosome was only 300kb (kB) in size and took three years to complete.
four of the Chinese teams were close to the Mb level (1Mb- 1000kb), and Dai Junhui's team was the longest of the yeasts, 976kb. Xiang Yan, Head of China at
Science magazine, commented: "This achievement is considered a landmark achievement, and we believe it will have a broad and far-reaching impact on international academia, especially in the life sciences, and we look forward to significant breakthroughs in genomic synthesis in other life forms and in other applications."
" started with yeast, Dai said, because "the earliest research on human diseases was through yeast as a model to explain its rationale."
as a total nuclear organism, yeast chromosomes have more than 10 million base pairs (about 5% of the human genome), mastering its "writing" is an important node.
, yeasts that can be used for brewing, baking and a variety of industrial uses have great industrial application value.
at today's levels, it takes just 10 cents to synthesize a pair of essential ammonia in chromosomes, and more than $1 million to fully synthesize yeast with more than 10 million pairs of bases.
and the actual cost is much higher than that.
, the project took a total of 3 years from start to finish, not counting the preparation.
According to Shen Wei, head of the Synthesis and Editing Platform of the Shenzhen National Gene Bank, Huada Gene received about 20 million RMB from the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Shenzhen Development and Reform Commission and the Science and Technology Creation Commission also gave some financial support, and Huada Gene itself took on a portion of the funding.
Yang Huanming, "will never make a profit on this."
we've always insisted that genome sequences around the world are free of charge for any creature."
people eventually be synthesized by humans themselves? For now, this is the ultimate question that is remote and worthy of caution.
but at least humans are not content with yeast.
said it is confident it will work together to complete the remaining yeast chromosomes in 2018.
At the same time, the first artificial animal nematodes, the first artificial multicellular plant aphid mustard, the first human chromosome, chromosome 21 remodeling, and the synthesis of 10,000 artificial phages were written in the Shenzhen National Gene Bank Genome Synthesis 2020 Program.
synthetic yeast chromosomes can be imagined as transforming a second-hand house Synthetic yeast chromosomes, an international collaborative project of more than 200 scientists from 10 universities around the world.
the results of the report, Tianjin University, Tsinghua University, Huada Gene, the three domestic teams have also carried out a joint effort to take their own strengths.
's team specializes in stitching and synthesized chromosomes using a strategy of long chromosome grading.
yingjin team to create a method to efficiently locate growth defect targets, and errors that occur after stitching can be efficiently fixed.
chromosome synthesis is not the same as wild sequencing results to test, Huada gene in the high-volume sequencing strength of the domestic leading, to undertake the Tsinghua University team sequencing work.
" assembly problems, you can not get a correct yeast, it is difficult to correct errors later.
there is no correction, it is inevitable that errors will be made, there will be some errors in the creature, need to be repaired.
" Dai Junxuan told the news. 'Every step is critical, and the Chinese team has innovated at different points.
explains that synthetic yeast is not designed from scratch to produce a whole new yeast.
to be honest, our level of knowledge and cognition is not yet there, and we are far from there.
"" he said.
But how do you assemble it and how do you synthesize it, it's something that makes every team look good, and of course it has a standard process, but we can figure out how to do it ourselves."
" In order to visualize what kind of study synthetic yeast is, Dai Junhui gives an example: "Compare our cells to a house, which has been there since we appeared."
we bought a second-hand house, but the structure inside we don't know because it's all scattered.
we look at the genome the same way, we don't know the distribution of the lines inside.
what we can actually do now is take this thing apart and see how it's arranged.
this is the first step we need to know before we can do the whole makeover.
otherwise, the house will collapse as soon as you get it.
" "We do genome synthesis is also designed according to this concept.
I know there's a pillar here, don't break it, basically do it as it was, there's no particularly big difference in terms of appearance.
but we're not actually saying it's completely different, we've done a lot of renovations, some minor changes.
we didn't remodel the beams, but there was a switch on this side and decorations on that side, which is where we felt we should add them.
so I hope this year we'll see another article on how what we've added helps us understand the structure of the whole life and genome.
" in other words, synthetic yeast is created to crack the theoretical black hole of human chroma, "built to help understand."
Controversy: "Milestones" or "just money and manpower" Some peers think it's a milestone, but some well-known scholars have commented that "a lot of money is needed, manpower is needed, the brain is needed, the brain is not needed, and the conclusion is that this is the case".
because similar international projects often require significant financial investment and have agreed technical frameworks to operate.
At the launch site, a reporter asked about the evaluation of the 1st point of view, the project involved in the Huada Institute of Genetics President Xu Xun said: "For many major breakthroughs in human history, such as the last century's human science history of the three major initiatives: the Apollo moon landing, the atomic bomb program and the human genome program, is also known as the three major scientific programs."
these big scientific programs are a lot of manpower and material resources, which can bring about a major breakthrough.
that yeast synthesis "will soon demonstrate the value and significance of its application", just as "three initiatives" bring civilian derivative value.
" larger input needs to see what its output ratio is, so such a large scientific project must require large input, large organization, large coordination and international cooperation.
," Xu said.
Yang, who has been involved in the human genome project for more than 20 years, is still optimistic, citing China's 1% contribution.
"The human genome in the United States for six years before it really started in 1995, there are all things in it," Yang Huanming said.
it would be strange if a science had so much meaning and no difference of opinion.
" for the study's conclusions were evaluated as "predictable", Dai Junhui told the news: "The reason why we synthesize, as before, is that it really should not have a problem."
the original set of templates, (we) according to its biological endo-source design to do the improvement.
our principle is to get a living yeast before we can find something unknown inside.
like we're going to have a platform and then do something on that platform.
we're actually building this platform, and we're actually working on how to use it to study where unknown biological functions are.
"If one day humans "write" their own genes, will people start "self-making" and write human genes? This will greatly challenge medical ethics.
asked Yang Huanming this question, he said, "In terms of stem cells, we're actually starting to explore it now."
gene therapy has also partially altered the genome.
't you going to get someone after that? Then the problem is complicated.
This question is the same as stem cell thinking, now confined to cells, then organs, (and then) a person as a whole - just like cloning a person, that's exactly what the whole world should be talking about."
" "It's not just general ethics anymore, it's about what we are defined as human beings and what dignity is.
" he said, "it can only be said that through basic research, yeast, a single-celled nuclear biological research, many of the human research began through such experimental organisms."
really involved, it's something that everyone should be involved in.
" scientists and ethicists have previously envisaged safety and ethical factors in genomic synthesis.
Yang Huanming, referring to the discussion at a bioethics conference, said: "It will certainly bring bioethics, biosecurity issues, but it has not yet stepped out or impact the existing ethical framework."
e.g. pathogens ( bodies ) , viruses are tested in P2 and P3 laboratories ( Note : P4 is named according to the biosecurity level , P4 is the highest level , can be tested live Ebola and other viruses ).
, bio-terrorism, drug trafficking and so on, already have corresponding policies.
, of course, to add that we must have followed the development of this technology most closely and with the latest caution, because it did not bring new problems.
"