Chinese scientists create 4 synthetic yeast chromosomes

Dai Junbiao, head of Tsinghua University's research team, checks the yeast in the laboratory of Tsinghua University in Beijing, capital of China, March 9, 2017. 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/Shen Bohan)