The research team introduced mobility-capable proteins into a simple synthetic bacterium that typically cannot move. This modification allowed the bacterium to change shape and gain mobility. The study was published in the journal Science Advances.
In 2010, scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) announced the world’s first completely synthetic living organism. This organism is a microbe derived from a synthetic chromosome, created from four chemical components and designed using computer modeling.
This is the world’s first completely synthetic living organism.
Over the years, other scientists have modified the formula to provide the organism with the smallest and simplest genome possible. At the same time, they allowed it to grow and divide like natural cells.
In a recent study, scientists at Osaka Metropolitan University (Japan) modified the latest version of this organism, called syn3. This modification granted the organism a new capability: movement.
This synthetic bacterium is typically spherical and cannot move on its own. Therefore, the team experimented by adding seven types of proteins that enable natural swimming in bacteria. Syn3 was chemically designed and synthesized to contain the smallest DNA genome, encompassing the essential genetic information required for the growth of Mycoplasma bacteria.
These proteins were sourced from a bacterium named Spiroplasma. This bacterium has a long spiral shape and swims by reversing the direction of its spiraled body. When the proteins were added to syn3, the bacterium transformed from its usual round shape to a spiral form similar to Spiroplasma. Most importantly, the organism could swim using a similar technique.
Professor Makoto Miyata, a co-lead author of the study, stated: “It can be said that our syn3 swimmer is the ‘smallest mobile life form’ with the ability to move independently. The results of this research are expected to enhance our understanding of evolution and the origins of cellular movement.”
Studying the smallest bacteria in the world with the most functional movement machinery could be used to develop motion for tiny robots that mimic cells or protein-based engines.
