JCVI Mycoplasma mycoides genome

​In 2010, J. Craig Venter and his team set out to answer a fundamental question: _Can we write a genetic code on a computer, synthesize the DNA chemically, and use it to boot up a living cell?

​JCVI-syn1.0 (2010): The team synthesized the entire ~1.1 million base-pair genome of Mycoplasma mycoides in the lab. They injected this synthetic DNA into a host cell of a closely related species (Mycoplasma capricolum). The synthetic genome took over, destroyed the host cell's original DNA, and began producing its own proteins—creating the first self-replicating synthetic organism (nicknamed Synthia).

​The "Watermarks": To prove it was artificial, the team encoded watermarks into the DNA sequence, including famous quotes, the team members' names, and a website address encoded in the codon sequence.