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  • TECHNOLOGY FEATURE

Why is it so hard to rewrite a genome?

Synthetic biologists have the know-how and ambition to retool whole genomes. But the hidden complexity of biological systems continues to surprise them.
By
  1. Michael Eisenstein

    1. Michael Eisenstein is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Illustration of two hands removing sections of a DNA double helix

Credit: Malte Mueller/Getty

When Patrick Yizhi Cai reflects on the state of synthetic genomics, he recalls the Big DNA Contest. Launched in 2004, the competition challenged synthetic biologists to design a novel, functional 40,000-base-pair DNA sequence that the contest sponsor, US DNA-synthesis firm Blue Heron Biotech (now Eurofins Genomics Blue Heron) would manufacture for free.

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Nature 638, 848-850 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00462-z

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