Synthetic genome nearly complete, paving way for bespoke organisms

Human-designed organisms could produce drugs and vaccines, convert waste into energy or grow organs for human transplant operations

Scientists are close to completing an entire synthetic genome for a microbe that has been used in bread, beer and wine making for more than five thousand years, paving the way for a realm of new organisms designed by the human hand.

The work on baker's yeast marks a substantial advance in researchers' ability to manufacture the code of life. While genetic modification alters only small numbers of genes at a time, the new approach allows scientists to rewrite entire genomes. In doing so, they can strip out excess genetic baggage and unstable regions that have accumulated over millions of years of evolution and add fresh DNA on the way.