DNA alternative created by scientists

Artificial genetic material – XNAs – expected to reveal how molecules first replicated and drive biotechnology research

Scientists have created artificial genetic material that can store information and evolve over generations in a similar way to DNA – a feat expected to drive research in medicine and biotechnology, and shed light on how molecules first replicated and assembled into life billions of years ago.

In the journal Science [2] the researchers describe how they caused one of the XNAs to stick to a protein, an ability that might mean the polymers could be deployed as drugs working like antibodies.

In an accompanying article [3], Gerald Joyce [4], of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, says the study heralds an "era of syntheticgenetics [5], with implications for exobiology [which deals with extraterrestrial life], biotechnology and understanding life itself". He adds: "Construction of genetic systems based on alternative chemical platforms may ultimately lead to the synthesis of novel forms of life."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/apr/19/dna-alternative-xnas-science-genetics [6]