The complexity of simplicity
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* Corresponding author: Scott N Peterson scottp@tigr.org
The Institute for Genomic Research, 9712 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850, USA
Genome Biology 2001, 2:comment2002-comment2002.8 doi:10.1186/gb-2001-2-2-comment2002
Published: 8 February 2001Abstract
What is the minimum number of genes or functions necessary to support cellular life? The concept of a 'minimal genome' has become popular, but is it a useful concept, and if so, what might a minimal genome encode? We argue that the concept may be useful, even though the goal of defining a general minimal genome may never be attained.