Zombieland: Genome transplant brings ‘dead’ bacteria back to life
Source: NatureView Original
scienceMarch 24, 2026
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These Mycoplasma capricolum bacterial cells have absorbed a genome engineered from a closely related bacterium, Mycoplasma mycoides.Credit: Thomas Deerinck, NCMIR/Science Photo Library
Researchers have resurrected ‘dead’ bacterial cells by replacing their defunct DNA with the working genome of another species.
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