Changing DNA

On Thursday, February 21st, a chemist named Dr. Benner and his team of scientists reported success in creating a new way to construct assemble DNA. Natural DNA has four parts, chemicals that are represented by letters, A (adenine) , T (thymine)  ,G (guanine) , and C (cytosine). Benner created a new system called Hachimoji, which adds four new bases that are unnatural. Benner says that some of the applications for this new DNA system could be, a new way to store digital data that lasts for centuries. When showcasing this new form of DNA, Benner said "We can store information, we can transfer it to another molecule and that other molecule has a function — and here it is, glowing". Lastly, this new system of DNA questions whether or not that there could be other combinations of chemicals somewhere else in the universe that could support life elsewhere.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/science/dna-hachimoji-genetic-alphabet.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Science

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