SCIENTISTS have created the first man-made chromosome for a complex-celled organism — a feat hailed as a big step towards acquiring the controversial ability to redesign plants or animals. A synthetic chromosome was inserted into a brewer’s yeast cell, which functioned as normal — the key test of success, the international team has reported in the journal Science. “Our research moves the needle in synthetic biology from theory to reality,” said Jef Boeke, director of the New York University’s Institute for Systems Genetics, who was a member of the research team. :snip: “It is the most extensively altered chromosome ever...