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This illustration shows the structure of a new synthetic DNA molecule, called hachimoji DNA, which uses the four informative ingredients of normal DNA (green, red, blue, yellow) in addition to four new (cyan, pink, purple and orange). Credit: Indiana University School of Medicine
As part of a scientific breakthrough funded by NASA, scientists have synthesized a molecular system capable, like DNA, of storing and transmitting information. This unprecedented feat suggests that there could be an alternative to life based on DNA, as we know it on Earth – a genetic system for life that could be possible on other worlds .
This new molecular system, which is not a new form of life, suggests that scientists looking for a life beyond the Earth may need to rethink what they are looking for. The research appears in the Thursday edition of Science Magazine.
DNA is a complex molecule that stores and transmits genetic information. It is transmitted from parent to descendant in all living organisms on Earth. Its components include four key ingredients called nucleotides – all standards for life as we know them. But what about life on other worlds?
"The detection of life is an increasingly important goal of NASA's global science missions, and this new work will help us develop effective instruments and experiences that will expand the reach of what we are seeking," he said. Lori Glaze, Acting Director, NASA Planetary Science Division. .
One way to imagine the types of foreign structures found on other worlds is to try to create something foreign on Earth. A team of researchers, led by Steven Benner of the Foundation for Molecular Evolution Applied in Alachua, Fla., Has managed to fabricate a new informative molecular system similar to DNA, with the exception of A key area: the new molecule contains eight informative ingredients. four.
Synthetic DNA includes the four nucleotides found in terrestrial life – adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine – but also four others that mimic the structures of informative ingredients of irregular DNA. The result is a double helix structure capable of storing and transferring information.
The detection of life is an increasingly important goal of NASA's global science missions, and this new work will help us develop effective instruments and experiences that will expand the scope of what we are looking for.
Benner's team, who collaborated with laboratories at the University of Texas at Austin, the Indiana University School of Medicine at Indianapolis, and DNA Software in Ann Arbor, Michigan, dubbed them creation "hachimoji" DNA (from the Japanese "hachi", meaning "eight," "and" moji ", which means" letter ") .Hachimoji DNA meets all the structural requirements allowing our DNA to store, transmit and make evolve information in living systems.
"By carefully analyzing the roles of shape, size and structure in hachimoji's DNA, these works help to better understand the types of molecules that can store information in extraterrestrial life on extraterrestrial worlds," he said. said Benner.
Scientists have much more to do on what other genetic systems could be the basis of life and where to find such exotic organisms. However, this study opens the door to further research on ways in which life could be structured in environments that we consider inhospitable, but which could be teeming with life forms that we had not yet imagined.
"Integrating a broader understanding of what is possible in the design of our instruments and mission concepts will result in a more inclusive and therefore more effective search for life beyond the Earth." said Mary Voytek, a senior scientist in astrobiology at NASA headquarters.
One of NASA's goals is to look for life on other planets, such as Mars, where once there was water and a thick atmosphere, or moons of the outer solar system like Europa and Enceladus, where vast Oceans of water mix under thick layers of ice. What if life on these worlds did not use our DNA? How could we recognize it? This new DNA could be the key to answering these and many other questions.
This work is also of interest to those interested in information as part of life.
"The discovery that DNA with eight nucleotide letters is suitable for storing and transmitting information is a breakthrough in our understanding of the many possibilities needed for life," said Andrew Serazin, president of the Templeton World Charity Foundation. in Nassau, Bahamas, which "This makes a major contribution to the quest supported by the Templeton World Charity Foundation to understand the fundamental role played by information in physics and biology."
This research was funded by NASA's astrobiology program through the exobiology program. To learn more about NASA's astrobiology program, visit
https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/
Dwayne Brown / Elizabeth Landau
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 / 818-359-3241
[email protected] / [email protected]
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