Researchers use AI to break the rules of nature and create a living organism that lacks a fundamental building block of life – the first synthetic 19-amino acid life form is here
- AI creates a strain of E. coli with 19 amino acids, removing isoleucine from the ribosome
- This is the first organism to have fewer than 20 of the universal amino acids
- The discovery supports early life theories and lays a future for synthetic organisms in medicine
Researchers from Columbia University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University have successfully used AI to create a brand-new version of the bacteria E. coli that does away with one of the 20 amino acids that are considered the primary building blocks of living organisms.
A study published in Science details the significance of this discovery, which uses AI and protein engineering to create a modified strain of E. coli with just 19 amino acids, making do specifically without isoleucine.
This is a major milestone not just for biology, but also across AI and research into the origins of life. While some organisms...
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