INTRODUCTION In 1984, the simplest cells capable of autonomous growth, the
mycoplasmas, were proposed as models for understanding the basic principles of life. In …

The field of genetic engineering was born in 1973 with the “construction of biologically
functional bacterial plasmids in vitro”. Since then, a vast number of technologies have been …

Withstanding 3.5 billion years of genetic drift, the canonical genetic code remains such a
fundamental foundation for the complexity of life that it is highly conserved across all three …

Synthetic chromosome rearrangement and modification by loxP-mediated evolution
(SCRaMbLE) generates combinatorial genomic diversity through rearrangements at …

Highlights•The quest for minimal genomes has both fundamental and biotechnological
motivations.•Genome reduction has been enabled by chromosomal editing and chemical …

Mycoplasmas are successful pathogens that cause debilitating diseases in humans and
various animal hosts. Despite the exceptionally streamlined genomes, mycoplasmas have …

The spiroindolones, a new class of antimalarial medicines discovered in a cellular screen,
are rendered less active by mutations in a parasite P-type ATPase, PfATP4. We show here …

Functional genomics studies in minimal mycoplasma cells enable unobstructed access to
some of the most fundamental processes in biology. Conventional transposon bombardment …

DNA assembly is the key technology of the emerging interdisciplinary field of synthetic
biology. While the assembly of smaller DNA fragments is usually performed in vitro, high …

Respiratory infections caused by mycoplasma species in ruminants lead to considerable
economic losses. Two important ruminant pathogens are Mycoplasma mycoides subsp …