Researchers have synthesized new ingredients for the blueprint of life. Steven Benner, a pioneer in the field of synthetic biology, and his team created four new DNA letters, according a study out and his team created four new DNA letters, according a study out today in the journal Science. The new eight-letter genetic system, dubbed “hachimoji” (hachi meaning eight in Japanese and moji meaning letter), doubles the number of building blocks for life.
“A lot of people have hinted …that the natural letters aren’t the only solutions but this… completely blows it away,” said Floyd Romesberg, a synthetic biologist at Scripps Research in La Jolla, California, who was not involved in the research, but calls the work “groundbreaking.” The work indicates the four molecules that make up DNA as we know it aren’t the only options for constructing a genetic code.
