Recent Developments in Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology means designing and building biological parts, or whole genomes, on purpose. Scientists write DNA on a computer, make it chemically, and put it into a living cell.

The old way was to cut and paste existing genes. The new way is to write DNA from a digital file. The first way edits life. The second way builds it.

What is a genome, and what is a chromosome?

• A genome is the full set of genetic instructions in a cell.
• A chromosome is a threadlike structure made of protein and one molecule of DNA.
• Most bacteria have one or two circular chromosomes.
• Humans, other animals and plants have linear chromosomes.

What should you remember?

• Synthetic biology builds DNA from chemicals and designs.
• The 2019 UPSC question tested what has not been done.

On 20 May 2010 the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) announced its result. The team had built a bacterial cell controlled only by a synthetic genome. The paper appeared in Science, in print on 2 July 2010.

How did they build the genome?

1. They started from a digital copy of the genome of the bacterium Mycoplasma mycoides. 2. They designed 1,078 short DNA pieces, called cassettes, each 1,080 base pairs long. 3. A company, Blue Heron Biotechnology, made the pieces chemically. 4. The team joined the pieces in three stages inside yeast cells. 5. The finished genome of about 1.08 million base pairs grew in yeast as a yeast artificial chromosome. 6. They removed it from yeast and placed it into a cell of a related species, Mycoplasma capricolum.

What came out?

The recipient cell began to run on the new genome. The only DNA in the cells was the designed synthetic sequence. The cells could keep dividing. JCVI named the new cell M. mycoides JCVI-syn1.0.

What is the “watermark”?

The team hid coded messages in the genome. These marks prove the genome is synthetic. They include a web address, the names of 46 authors and key contributors and three quotations. One quote is Richard Feynman’s: “What I cannot build, I cannot understand.”

Why do exam options call it “Synthia”?

The UPSC-style option on this site calls the cell “Synthia”. JCVI’s own name is JCVI-syn1.0. If you see either name, the answer is the same cell.

What should you remember?

• Year: 2010. Team: Craig Venter’s JCVI.
• Genome size: about 1.08 million base pairs.
• The synthetic genome copied a natural bacterium. It did not mix species.

The 2010 genome worked, but it was still full of genes. In 2016 JCVI asked a new question. Which genes does a cell truly need?

What did JCVI do in 2016?

• They started with the 1,079-kilobase genome of JCVI-syn1.0.
• Their first minimal design did not give a living cell.
• They then found “quasi-essential” genes, which a cell needs for strong growth.
• After three design cycles they made JCVI-syn3.0.

What is JCVI-syn3.0?

JCVI-syn3.0 has a genome of 531 kilobase pairs and 473 genes. That is smaller than the genome of any autonomously replicating cell found in nature when it was published. It still has 149 genes whose job nobody knows.

What should you remember?

• Syn1.0 was about copying a genome.
• Syn3.0 was about shrinking a genome to its core.
• Unknown genes show that biology still holds many secrets.

Bacteria have simple cells. Yeast is a eukaryote, like plants and animals. Building its genome is much harder. The next advances came from yeast and from E. coli.

What is the Sc2.0 yeast project?

• Sc2.0 is an international project to build a synthetic genome for baker’s yeast.
• Its 2017 design reduced the yeast genome in size by nearly 8%.
• By November 2023 scientists had assembled every individual synthetic chromosome.
• One 2023 strain carried 6.5 synthetic chromosomes, and the same 2023 paper put over half of the synthetic genome in one strain.

What was Syn61?

In 2019 a research team built an E. coli with a four-megabase synthetic genome. They recoded 18,214 codons. The cell uses 61 codons instead of 64. That is why it is called Syn61.

What is Syn57?

Syn57 followed in 2025. It is a synthetic E. coli that uses 57 codons. The work recoded over 101,000 codons. It came from Jason Chin’s group at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.

Why does this matter?

• Free codons can carry new, non-natural amino acids.
• The MRC team says such cells may resist viruses, which could make drug manufacturing cheaper and more reliable.

Three of the four statements in the UPSC question describe real techniques. Learn them so you can spot the false one.

What is PCR?

PCR means polymerase chain reaction. It makes millions to billions of copies of a chosen DNA segment. Short synthetic pieces, called primers, select the segment. The enzyme DNA polymerase then copies it.

Who invented PCR?

Kary Mullis invented PCR in 1985. He shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Michael Smith. The Nobel citation reads “for his invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method”.

What does a PCR cycle do?

1. Denaturation: heat splits the two DNA strands. 2. Primer annealing: primers stick to the single strands. 3. Extension: DNA polymerase builds new strands.

The NCERT Class 12 Biology textbook adds a key point. It uses a heat-stable polymerase from the bacterium Thermus aquaticus. This enzyme stays active during the high heat that splits the DNA strands.

Can DNA replicate outside a living cell?

Yes. PCR is exactly that. DNA from an animal cell can be copied in a tube. This is the real statement (c) in the UPSC question.

What should you remember?

• PCR copies DNA in vitro, outside a cell.
• Primers are short, chemically made DNA pieces.
• Chemically made DNA, such as the 2010 genome, is also real.

The 2019 UPSC question rests on one claim. Functional chromosomes cannot be made by joining DNA segments from cells of different species.

Has any chromosome work succeeded inside one species?

Yes. In 2018 Chinese researchers made a yeast with a single chromosome. They fused all sixteen natural chromosomes end to end and removed extra centromeres. The giant chromosome could support life. But the strain grew worse, competed worse and made fewer viable gametes.

What does that tell us?

• Fusing chromosomes inside one species can work, with a cost.
• Rebuilding a whole genome from a design can work for one species.
• Mixing parts from different species into one working chromosome is a different task. UPSC’s 2019 question treated it as not possible.

What is the trap in the exam question?

Three options describe things the UPSC key treats as done: artificial DNA, DNA copying outside a cell, and cell division in a dish. The trap option sounds like a natural next step. But the key says it is not correct.

India backs the wider bioeconomy through policy. It also uses gene editing in crops and medicine.

What is the BioE3 policy?

• The Union Cabinet approved BioE3 in August 2024.
• BioE3 stands for Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment.
• Its theme is “Fostering High Performance Biomanufacturing”.
• It supports biomanufacturing hubs, Bio-AI hubs and biofoundries.

Which are the six thematic sectors?

1. Bio-based chemicals and enzymes 2. Functional foods and smart proteins 3. Precision biotherapeutics 4. Climate-resilient agriculture 5. Carbon capture and its utilisation 6. Futuristic marine and space research

What is a biofoundry?

PIB describes the DBT-supported biofoundry at ICGEB, New Delhi. It handles bacteria and yeast as microbial platforms. It works on a Design, Build, Test and Learn cycle.

What gene-edited crops did India release?

On 4 May 2025 the Union Agriculture Minister announced two genome-edited rice varieties from ICAR institutes. They are DRR Rice 100 (Kamala) and Pusa DST Rice 1. They came from Samba Mahsuri and MTU 1010. They use CRISPR-Cas without adding foreign DNA. Genome editing of SDN-1 and SDN-2 types is approved under India’s biosafety rules.

What is BIRSA 101?

On 19 November 2025 Dr Jitendra Singh launched BIRSA 101. It is India’s first indigenous CRISPR-based gene therapy for sickle cell disease. CSIR-IGIB developed it. CSIR-IGIB and the Serum Institute of India signed a technology transfer agreement.

How does this compare with the world?

The UK regulator MHRA authorised Casgevy on 16 November 2023. It was the first medicine licensed that uses CRISPR.

What should you remember?

• BioE3: August 2024, six sectors, biofoundries.
• Genome-edited rice: May 2025, no foreign DNA.
• BIRSA 101: November 2025, sickle cell disease.

UPSC Prelims 2019, GS Paper I, Q93, asked which statement is not correct.

What was the question?

“With reference to the recent developments in science, which one of the following statements is not correct?”

• (a) Functional chromosomes can be created by joining segments of DNA taken from cells of different species.
• (b) Pieces of artificial functional DNA can be created in laboratories.
• (c) A piece of DNA taken out from an animal cell can be made to replicate outside a living cell in a laboratory.
• (d) Cells taken out from plants and animals can be made to undergo cell division in laboratory petri dishes.

The answer is (a).

Why are the other options true?

• (b) The 2010 JCVI genome shows artificial DNA can be made and can run a cell.
• (c) PCR copies DNA outside a living cell.
• (d) UPSC treats this as true: cells from plants and animals can be grown and divided in a dish.

How do you answer it fast?

Spot the “not correct” word first. Three options are lab routine. The key treats the cross-species chromosome claim as the false one. So (a) is the false statement.

What other question uses the same topic?

This site also carries the 2010 question. It asks: “In 2010, Craig Venter’s team achieved which of the following?” The answer is the bacterium with a fully synthetic genome.