Life’s Core Functions Identified

August 11, 2015

(The San Diego Union-Tribune) – What is needed to sustain life? A study led by bioengineers at the University of California, San Diego has given an answer to that question, at the microbial level. Writing in PNAS, researchers have defined the minimum set of genes and functions necessary for microbial life. The study was led by Bernhard Palsson, the Galetti Professor of Bioengineering at UC San Diego and corresponding author on the paper. Numerical and statistical experts from Stanford University also took part in the study. Defining this core set of necessary elements is useful in understanding cell functions, and also for synthetic biology, the study stated.