The first "alien" DNA has been created by researchers, who developed the novel genetic codes into a bacterium unlike anything else on Earth.
Every life form on Earth works off four building blocks of DNA. These are adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine, usually abbreviated A, T, C, and G. As DNA develops, A bonds with T and G connects to C. The messenger RNA replaces thymine with a different chemical, called uracil.
This RNA is an important step between DNA and proteins. Before man-made proteins can be created, information will need to pass through RNA, which did not take place in this experiment. Proteins are limited to just 20 different forms of amino acids, limiting the ability to custom design the structures.
"Compare this to a medicinal chemist, who explores a much greater diversity of structures in the small-molecule drugs they synthesize. We hope to be able to combine the best of both small-molecule and protein drugs," Floyd Romesberg of the Scripps Research Institute said.
This new organism uses two man-made "letters" of the genetic alphabet. These new building blocks were inserted into cells of Escherichia coli bacteria, using a transporter, which carried the custom genetic code through the protective outer wall of the microscopic organisms.
These tiny structures provide codes to proteins that carry out essential operations within cells. Artificial genetic groups could create proteins never before seen, capable of creating conditions in the cell unlike anything directed by natural DNA.
"What we have done is successfully store increased information in the DNA of a living cell," Romesberg told LiveScience.
Despite the advances, it will still take more research in order for the new cells to create unique proteins. Researchers believe development of artificial forms of DNA will allow them to design new drugs and make advances in other fields, as well.
Earlier research, conducted in Switzerland in 1989, developed the first custom versions of guanine and cytosine in a test tube.
These were never placed into living cells, as the technology was not available at the time. The new codes developed in California are far different from these chemicals, or any that currently exist in the natural environment.
"If you read a book that was written with four letters, you're not going to be able to tell many interesting stories. If you're given more letters, you can invent new words, you can find new ways to use those words and you can probably tell more interesting stories," Romesberg told reporters.
Development of the unique genetic codes was detailed in the journal Nature.
