Your trusted source

US scientists say they have taken the first step towards making "safer" GMOs that cannot spread in the wild using synthetic biology, the BBC reported.

They have re-written the genetic code of bacteria to use only synthetic chemicals to grow.

The GM bacteria would die if they escaped into nature.

The research, published in Nature, is proof of concept for a new generation of GMOs, including plants, say Harvard and Yale university experts.

Genetically engineered micro-organisms are used in Europe, the US and China to produce drugs or fuels under contained industrial conditions.

Scientists want to build in safety measures so that their spread could be controlled if they were ever used in the outside world, perhaps to mop up oil spills or to improve human health.

"What we've done is engineered organisms so that they require synthetic amino acids for survival or for life," Prof Farren Isaacs of Yale University, who led one of two studies, told BBC News.

He said the future challenge was to re-engineer the code of other lifeforms.

"What we're seeing here is an important proof of concept that re-coding genomes and engineering dependence on synthetic amino acids is technically feasible in not just E coli but other micro-organisms and multicellular organisms such as plants."

GMOs have a number of potential practical uses, including the production of drugs and fuels, and removing pollutants from contaminated areas.

However, strict containment measures would be needed to use them in open spaces to stop them spreading in the wild.