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Chapter 1
• Cells and Genomes
Study of living organisms is closely tied with their origins
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all living organisms are made of cells
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all organisms and all cells descended from a common ancestor
through evolution by natural selection
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present day molecules are a rich source of information about the
course of evolution
The universal features of cells on earth
Each species reproduces itself faithfully. This phenomenon of
heredity is a central part of the definition of life.
All cells store their hereditary information in DNA
All cells replicate their DNA by templated polymerization
All cells transcribe portions of their hereditary information into RNA
All cells use proteins as catalysts
This feedback loop is the basis of the autocatalytic, self-reproducing
behavior of living organisms
All cells translate RNA into protein in the same way
The fragment of genetic information corresponding to one protein is one gene
The consumption of free energy is fundamental to life
All cells function as biochemical factories dealing with the same
basic molecular building blocks
All cells are enclosed in a plasma membrane across which nutrients and waste
materials must pass
Membrane transport proteins
A living cell can exist with fewer than 500 genes
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Jan 10;103(2):425-30.
Metabolic pathways and substrate transport mechanisms encoded by M. genitalium
Glass, John I. et al. (2006) Proc. Natl. Aad. Sci. USA 103, 425-430
The 160-Kilobase Genome of the Bacterial Endosymbiont Carsonella
Science 314:267 (2006)
Science 317: 632 – 638 (Aug 3, 2007)
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July 2007
Better Biofuels
Using synthetic biology, LS9 custom-makes hydrocarbons.
By Neil Savage
The U.S. Department of Energy has set a goal of replacing 30 percent of gasoline used in the United States
with fuels from renewable biological sources by 2030. So it is hardly surprising that some biotech startup
companies are positioning themselves to take advantage of an anticipated booming biofuels market.
While much of the focus is on ethanol, LS9 of San Carlos, CA, is using relatively new "synthetic biology"
techniques to engineer bacteria that can make hydrocarbons for gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.
Hydrocarbon fuels are better suited than ethanol to existing infrastructure, and their manufacture would
require less energy.
LS9 is at a very early stage, but it has brought together leaders in synthetic biology and industrial biotechnology. The company is equipping microbes with gene pathways that play a role in energy storage in other
microbes, plants, and even animals. Other startups, such as Amyris of Emeryville, CA, and SunEthanol of
Amherst, MA, are also trying to use synthetic biology to develop biofuel-producing microrganisms. LS9's
microbes produce and excrete hydrocarbons that are useful as fuels, says Stephen del Cardayre, vice president
for research and development. Now the company is working to customize the microbes' products and boost
outputs. "We certainly have gone beyond what we think anybody else was even thinking of doing" in terms of
producing hydrocarbons, says George Church, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School and an LS9 cofounder.