Scientists create artificial genetic material XNA

[Playinghardball]

Scientists have created artificial genetic material that can store information and evolve over generations in a similar way to DNA – a feat expected to drive research in medicine and biotechnology, and shed light on how molecules first replicated and assembled into life billions of years ago.

Ultimately, the creation of alternatives to DNA could enable scientists to make novel forms of life in the laboratory.

Researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, in Cambridge, developed chemical procedures to turn DNA and RNA, the molecular bases for all known life, into six alternative genetic polymers called XNAs.

The process swaps the deoxyribose and ribose (the “d” and “r” in DNA and RNA) for other molecules. It was found the XNAs could form a double helix with DNA and were more stable than natural genetic material.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/20/scientists-create-artificial-genetic-material-xna/

[kickysnana]

1. What could possibly go wrong? n/t

[laconicsax]

2. The "X" stands for eXtreme!!!

Move over deoxyribonucleic acid. Make way for X-treme nucleic acid!!!

[deucemagnet]

3. I'd like to get access to the journal article.

The linked article makes it sound like it's just the phosphosugar backbone of the DNA molecule that's being altered, but the abstract to the Science article says that "genetic information can be stored in and recovered from six alternative genetic polymers based on simple nucleic acid architectures not found in nature".

Damn. It's times like this when I wish I still worked at a larger university.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. It's just the sugars -- here's the BBC article ...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12285626

No more details at the research group home page -- http://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/news-and-events/lmb-news/development-of-new-genetic-polymers

[Duer 157099]

7. Sometimes if you wait a couple weeks

check back to the Science page and sometimes you can get the figures and data. I've seen that happen before with material that was only available by subscription, you can't get the whole text but they make the figures available, and you can usually glean whatever you need from those.

Drives me crazy too.

[jimlup]

5. cybergenetics!

fascinating!

[Dead_Parrot]

6. I, for one, welcome our metagenetic overlords. nt