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The original article uses these concepts interchangeably: minimal genome and minimal cell. They basically define the minimal cell as a cell with a minimal genom
by kyberias 11y ago
The original article uses these concepts interchangeably: minimal genome and minimal cell. They basically define the minimal cell as a cell with a minimal genome.
E.g. "Because our minimal cell is largely lacking in biosynthesis of amino acids, lipids, nucleotides, and vitamins, it depends on the rich medium to supply almost all of these required small molecules."
- tosseraccount 11y agoHumans need a lot of them, too ... but , yeah, a special bacteria chow for these critters is a good idea.
- dekhn 11y agoI don't think it necessarily follows that a minimal genome has the minimal cell or vice versa. It really depends on how much support structure (the rich media) is provided and the specific details of how the genome produces the cell structure, and the cell structure details. One can imagine little cycles of genes that all need each other, but don't actually provide any extra fitness. IIRC the Venter method can't identify and remove those sorts of cyclic dependencies if the cycle is more than 1-2 long.