Complex organisms have complex genomes. While bacteria and archaea keep all of their genes on a single loop of DNA, humans scatter them across 23 large DNA molecules called chromosomes; chromosome counts range from a single chromosome in males of an ant species to more than 400 in a butterfly.
There have been indications that chromosomes matter for an organism's underlying biology. Specialized structures within them influence the activity of nearby genes. And studies show that areas on different chromosomes will consistently be found next to each other in the cell, suggesting their interactions are significant.
So how do we square these two facts? Chromosome counts vary wildly and sometimes differ between closely related species, suggesting the actual number of chromosomes doesn't matter much. Yet the chromosomes themselves seem to be critical for an organism's genome to function as expected. To explore this issue, two different groups tried an audacious experiment: using genome editing, they gradually merged a yeast's 16 chromosomes down to just one giant molecule. And, unexpectedly, the yeast were mostly fine.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday August 04 2018, @08:33AM (2 children)
How close are we to putting a real generous helping of telomeres at the ends of the DNA?
I get the idea we are at the verge of being able to engineer really long-lived offspring.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04 2018, @03:00PM
Why would you want to do that? The point of the telomeres is so the cell goes senescent and can at least perform limited functions before it aquires too many mutations and dies (collectively leading to organ failure) or becomes a cancer cell.
Basically you are asking for your organs to fail sooner or to get cancer sooner. Sounds like an awful poison.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday August 05 2018, @12:26AM
-"
-- Dave Johnson [seeingtheforest.com]
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04 2018, @08:50AM (4 children)
Mostly fine? Is that good enough? Is good enough good enough? Holy shit, we are treading on very thin ice.
(Score: 3, Funny) by MostCynical on Saturday August 04 2018, @09:39AM (3 children)
"Mostly fine" means (choose one):
1. It still looked like yeast
2. The beer was a bit lumpy, but drinkable.
3. it didn't morph into a giant killing beast [youtube.com] or grey goo [wikipedia.org].
4. The yeast took over, and typed that bit of the report.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04 2018, @10:34AM (2 children)
The fact it worked - at all - is quite amazing.
Imagine us doing that with poorly understood binary blobs.
(Score: 3, Informative) by RS3 on Saturday August 04 2018, @01:43PM (1 child)
Early experiments on poorly understood binary blobs produced the first Anonymous Coward.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04 2018, @07:39PM
and we have taken over...mostly.