SCIENTISTS from the University of Southampton will lead a project demonstrating a new way of creating artificial genes in the laboratory.

Gene synthesis is a vital research tool with real world applications in processes such as growing transplantable organs to developing treatments for cancer.

Current methods for synthesizing genes make extensive use of enzymes (naturally occurring biological catalysts) to connect short strands of DNA to form the larger strands that make up genes.

In a study published in Nature Chemistry, scientists at the university, in collaboration with partners at the University of Oxford and ATDBio, a DNA synthesis company, have demonstrated a purely chemical method for gene assembly which overcomes the limitations of existing methods.

The new approach relies on a rapid and efficient chemical reaction (the copper-catalysed alkyne-azide cycloaddition reaction) known as click chemistry to stitch together modified multiple DNA fragments into a gene (a process called click DNA ligation).

Ali Tavassoli, professor of chemical biology at Southampton, who led the study, said: “Our approach is a significant breakthrough in gene synthesis. Not only have we demonstrated assembly of a gene using click-chemistry, we have also shown that the resulting strand of DNA is fully functional in bacteria, despite the scars formed by joining fragments.

“Genome synthesis will play an increasingly important role in scientific research. We believe our purely chemical approach has the potential to significantly accelerate efforts in this vitally important area, and ultimately lead to a better understanding of biological systems.”

The chemical approach also means that the synthesis of large DNA strands could be greatly accelerated and allow larger quantities of a single gene to be produced. It could also allow the process to become automated, potentially reducing the time and cost involved.

Study co-author professor Tom Brown, a visiting professor at the University of Southampton, added: “The synthesis of chemically modified genes, which we have achieved by a radical new approach, will become ever more important as the effects of epigenetically modified DNA on gene expression become clear.

“We started the underpinning work on click ligation over 10 years ago, so it’s very satisfying to now be at the stage where we can demonstrate this workable and highly effective new approach to gene synthesis.”