The researchers could potentially use their synthetic DNA to create novel proteins as well as RNA.
The problem is: do they code for anything? That is, do they make proteins? Can we incorporate them into tRNA attached to anything that binds?
It's pretty exciting stuff, actually, but building a meaningful protein isn't just getting a sequence right, it's figuring out how the thing folds into a useful morphology. We're taking baby steps here, but they're forward.
“Oops. Looks like we created a prion! Everybody evacuate the lab now!”
I have read that proteins find the correct folding pattern way faster than pure chance would allow, indicating the proper folding is itself somehow encoded in the DNA. Further a misfolded protein is a prion and is what causes conditions like CJD, Kuru, and Fatal Insomnia.
I suspect that they’ll insinuate them into some innocent bacteria, coopting their protein-building machinery, see what pops out, etc.
>That is, do they make proteins?
Probably, but they wouldn’t necessarily use the installed base of proteins that has been built up over billions of years of trial and error.
Use the same analogy as to why the width of railroads tracks is what it is.