Chinese scientists create 4 synthetic yeast chromosomes

Professor Yuan Yingjin (C) and members of his research team talk in the laboratory of Tianjin University in Tianjin, north China, Jan. 5, 2013. Chinese scientists have assembled four synthetic yeast chromosomes, making China the second country capable of designing and building eukaryotic genomes. The findings were published in Friday's edition of journal Science, marking a step closer to building synthetic life. In the study, researchers with Tianjin University, Tsinghua University and BGI-Shenzhen construct the synthetic active chromosomes through exactly matching the synthetic genome with the designed sequence for the first time. (Xinhua)