Tools: Invention Of Dna "page Numbers" Opens Up Possibilities For The...

The power of artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing has made it possible to design genetic sequences encoding for diverse biological applications, such as proteins that form the building blocks of materials stronger than steel, or personalized cancer treatments. But the act of constructing DNA sequences to realize those designs has been a significant bottleneck. Due to technological limitations, chemical DNA synthesis has been limited only to creating short pieces of DNA. However, DNA molecules on the scale of genes or genomes can be tens to thousands of times longer than current capabilities allow. Without DNA construction, AI-powered biological designs cannot be verified or improved—meaning that the blueprints for futuristic new technologies cannot be realized.

Caltech researchers have invented a new technology to write long sequences of DNA with groundbreaking accuracy. The invention, a method called Sidewinder, utilizes the conceptual equivalent of page numbers for DNA, enabling researchers to stitch together any arbitrary number of short pieces of DNA, called synthetic oligonucleotides, or "oligos," in the correct order to create a much larger piece of DNA—up to the scale of a gene or potentially an entire genome (the entire genetic complement of an organism). Synthetic oligos, which are cheap and widely available, can now be combined into any design using Sidewinder. This innovation clears a major bottleneck for bioengineering new compounds and materials, and it could have a vast array of applications, including agriculture and therapeutics.

The invention and development of Sidewinder was conducted in the laboratory of Kaihang Wang, an assistant professor of biology and biological engineering. A paper describing the technique appears in the journal Nature on January 21.

"DNA is the source code of all earthly life and biological functions," Wang says. "As such, biomedical applications and the future bioeconomy depend on the ability to write DNA. Sidewinder provides a new path to the ancient and persisting desire of humankind to rewrite the very source code of life. We can now make long DNA, regardless of complexity and sequence, and do this faster, more easily, and more cheaply than has been possible."

The diversity of life forms on Earth comes from evolution: As organisms replicate, their DNA is copied into their offspring. Over millions of years, mutations accumulate, giving rise to new organisms with new functions. However, this me

Source: HackerNews