Artificial DNA Can Replicate in Lab, Medical Research Council Study

Scientists moved a step closer to synthesizing new life forms in the laboratory after researchers showed that artificial genetic material called XNA can be replicated in the test tube much like real DNA. Researchers at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in the U.K. demonstrated for the first time a way to extract information from the artificial genetic molecules and mass produce copies of them. The finding, published today in the journal Science, shows that DNA and its sister molecule RNA may not be the only chemical structures upon which a living unit can be based.