In 2010, scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute synthesized the entire genome of a cell from basic building blocks, marking an important milestone in the quest to create life from off - the - shelf chemicals. (the-scientist.com)
Previously scientists had to rely on cancerous cell lines to carry out such research, but the mutated genomes of these cells obscure early changes, which can be observed in still healthy cells. (sciencedaily.com)
Although the two genomes of cells undergoing α - α unisexual reproduction are identical, phenotypic changes to these and other conditions (Figure S4) are clearly evident in even a relatively small sample of progeny produced by this process, which indicates that α - α unisexual reproduction generates phenotypic plasticity de novo since there is no preexisting genetic diversity to admix. (journals.plos.org)