genetic code

The Oregon Health and Science University research team's technique takes the nucleus – which houses a copy of the entire genetic code needed to build the body – out of a skin cell.

It was used to help decipher the genetic code, and in the 1970s it became the first organism to be genetically engineered when foreign DNA was inserted into it – laying the foundation for modern biotechnology.

Conversely, making an mRNA vaccine requires just sequencing the virus’s genetic code – a process that today takes just hours.

The team aims to use this information to confirm how many species there are, how they are related to each other and what part of their genetic code gives them their extraordinary, unique colour patterns.

It comes after a study analysing the genetic code of up to 100,000 babies was announced in October.