First chemical synthesis of a gene (yeast alanine tRNA)
Síntesis química del primer gen (ARNt de alanina de levadura)
- Date
- 1970 · confidence high
- Place
- University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, United States
- Credited to
- Har Gobind Khorana and colleagues
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
Khorana's team chemically synthesised and assembled with ligase a 77-base-pair double-stranded DNA encoding yeast alanine transfer RNA. It is the first total synthesis of a gene, an antecedent of DNA synthesis and synthetic biology.
Khorana, born in Punjab (now Pakistan), shared the 1968 Nobel for the genetic code. The gene was not functional in vivo as it lacked a promoter; a functional one (E. coli tyrosine tRNA) was achieved in 1976.
What it led to
- synthesis of oligonucleotides and genes (Genentech, somatostatin 1977)
- phosphoramidite chemistry and automated DNA synthesisers
- synthetic biology and synthetic genomes