Genome

Scientists have created the first fully computer-generated genome of a living organism. Named Caulobacter ethensis-2.0, it was built by simplifying the natural code of Caulobacter crescentus. The team says this is a huge step towards creating completely synthetic life and medicinal DNA molecules.

Following a recent call for a moratorium on human germline gene editing, several scientists have pushed back, claiming prohibition is redundant and problematic. The WHO's panel on the topic also sidestepped the issue, instead recommending a central registry on human gene editing research be created.

To many of us, the great white shark is a mysterious and scary creature from the deep – but now it’s a little less mysterious. Scientists have sequenced the entire genome of the great white shark, revealing a few clues as to how these animals are so good at healing wounds and resisting cancer.

Honeybees are increasingly under threat. To help save these creatures from extinction, researchers from York University have found a group of genes that appears to be related to how hygienic a particular colony of bees is, and selective breeding for these genes could help fight colony collapse.

In the world of gene-editing, CRISPR and Cas9 usually go hand in hand, but that might not necessarily be the best pairing. Now, researchers at UC Berkeley have tested a new candidate, CasX, which seems to have a few advantages of its own.

Although Cas9 has been the go-to enzyme for gene-editing, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best option. Now a team of scientists, including the co-creator of CRISPR, has engineered a more precise enzyme, known as Cas12b.

It almost goes without saying that space is a pretty harsh environment. Now researchers have examined what effects that environment might have on bacteria, and found that the bugs are mutating in response – but that probably isn’t cause for concern.

The world’s first gene-edited human babies have been born in China. Professor Jiankui He claims that by removing a specific gene from the embryos using CRISPR-Cas9, the twin girls would have a natural immunity to HIV. But scientists question the safety, effectiveness and morality of the procedure.

A team of researchers has traced back the origins of the cocoa tree to a single domestication event thousands of years ago, and uncovered other clues hiding in its genome that could help make future chocolate even better.

After a massive international effort involving over 200 scientists across 20 countries, the entire wheat genome has been finally sequenced. The landmark human achievement is hoped to lead to more efficient wheat breeding and production of crops.

A new kind of genome analysis has been developed that combines a large volume of different genetic variants into a single polygenic risk score that can determine how likely a person is to develop a number of common diseases, including coronary artery disease and inflammatory bowel disease.

Anglerfish are famous for their head-mounted bulbs that light up the inky blackness of the deepest oceans, but to find out exactly how, Cornell researchers have now sequenced the genome of the bacteria that live inside those lightbulbs, and found a strange story of symbiosis still in progress.