A direct consequence of the universality of the genetic code is the possibility for genetic information to be transferred between evolutionarily distant species. Such horizontal transfer of genetic information (as opposed to vertical genetic transfer, where information is passed on from an organism to its progeny) is common in nature and has shaped evolution over billions of years. In the context of genetic engineering, however, this type of genetic spillover is highly concerning. The prospect of pesticide- and antibiotic-resistance genes, often used in modified organisms, moving into species in the wild represents significant harm. Therefore, prevention of interference of artificial genetic information with natural biology is critical to allow biotechnological progress to be both safe and ambitious.

Furthermore, biotechnology will play a central role in addressing pressing challenges in food security, pharmaceutical development, sustainable fuel sources, and efficient carbon fixation. Thus, essential parts of the economy will increasingly rely on bioproduction facilities harboring tailor-made microbes. It is therefore critical that such facilities are extremely reliable. However, due to the universality of the genetic code, engineered organisms are just as susceptible to viral invasion as natural organisms. In fact, a single viral particle that finds its way into a bioproduction facility can force its operational shutdown.

Altering the genetic code of a cell provides an opportunity to render natural and synthetic genetic information incompatible. This breakthrough offers a means to protect the environment from genetically engineered organisms and, vice versa, engineered organisms critical for bioproduction from viral invasion. Through concerted efforts in genome recoding and translational engineering, it was possible to create the first organism with a synthetic genetic code. Since this organism “speaks a different language” than organisms found in nature, it is genetically isolated; it can neither give nor receive genetic information from the environment.

The lab is continuing to develop altered genetic codes to increase the safety of biotechnology and hopes to rewrite even the most complex biological systems in alternative synthetic genetic codes.