Synthetic genomes unveil the effects of synonymous recoding.

Engineering the genetic code of an organism provides the basis for (i) making any organism safely resistant to natural viruses and (ii) preventing genetic information flow into and out of genetically modified organisms while (iii) allowing the biosynthesis of genetically encoded unnatural polymers. Achieving these three goals requires the reassignment of multiple of the 64 codons nature uses to encode proteins. However, synonymous codon replacement-recoding-is frequently lethal, and how recoding impacts fitness remains poorly explored.

Strategies to identify and edit improvements in synthetic genome segments episomally.

Genome engineering projects often utilize bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) to carry multi-kilobase DNA segments at low copy number. However, all stages of whole-genome engineering have the potential to impose mutations on the synthetic genome that can reduce or eliminate the fitness of the final strain. Here, we describe improvements to a multiplex automated genome engineering (MAGE) protocol to improve recombineering frequency and multiplexability.

Integrating Telepresence Robots Into Nursing Simulation.

This article provides an overview of the use of telepresence robots in clinical practice and describes an evaluation of an educational project in which distance-based nurse practitioner students used telepresence robots in clinical simulations with on-campus Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing students. The results of this project suggest that the incorporation of telepresence in simulation is an effective method to promote engagement, satisfaction, and self-confidence in learning.