M. mycoides & M. capricolum are fast growing opportunistic pathogens of goats.  M. mycoides has a 1.08 mbp genome with 76.4% matched to M. capircolum. The synthetic M. mycoides genome had control sequences added: 1) for antibiotic selection on nutrient media and 2) the Lac-Z gene, which would turn the cells a bright blue (below) in the presence of the chemical X-gal.

JCVI via Science/AAAS

Craig Venter's research efforts took the bacteria Mycoplasma capricolum, removed its genome, and transplanted a custom-written version of the genome from Mycoplasma mycoides into it. The synthetic genome included coding for the production of a blue compound, which served here as a signal that the bacteria were "synthetic cells." These new artificial cells have expected phenotypic properties and were capable of continuous self-replication.

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