3 ms·
What'd be safer and more effective is transforming bacteria (e.g. E. coli ), which is basically an exponential photocopier. Bacteria can be frozen down in glyc
by jszymborski 9y ago
What'd be safer and more effective is transforming bacteria (e.g. E. coli ), which is basically an exponential photocopier.
Bacteria can be frozen down in glycerol stocks for ages, and even if the bacteria themselves are not viable, the DNA is recoverable.
To generate an appreciable amount of the synthesised DNA, this is likely already an intermediary step.
- klmr 9y agoBacteria copy DNA efficiently, but not very faithfully. As it’s not affected by selective pressure, the data would thus degrade extremely quickly. Rather than freezing bacteria, dry and freeze the DNA directly. Much better for preservation, and also much more space-efficient.
- jszymborski 9y agoTotally agree. I was just trying to make the point that if you want to chose a living organism to stick DNA in, it's likey bacteria, not Human via virus. Lyophilization > Bacteria Host >> Human Host