http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/06/new-technique-could-help-scientists-create-gene-just-1-day?utm_campaign=news_daily_2018-06-18&et_rid=389974365&et_cid=2122885
The Chinses have already produced artificial chromosomes. The genie is already out of the lamp. How we handle the consequences is a work in progress
The time-limiting step in creating a meaningful synthetic gene is not the gene synthesis, it is the process of learning to understand and design the sequences including the appropriate control elements needed for proper regulated expression. Of course, faster and cheaper methods of synthesizing precise DNA sequences will facilitate the process - however, at 98 to 99% accuracy, the mutation rate is still far to large, these genes will all have to be clonally amplified, sequenced and any sequence errors corrected to produce a gene what is several 100 to 1000 nucleotides in length. To be able to use polymerases for template-free DNA synthesis is a technological advance, which may eventually make this particular step faster and cheaper. but it is not a game-changer.
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