This article is self-contradictory.<p>In the second caption: "Each cell of JCVI-syn3.0 contains just 473 genes, fewer than any other independent organism."<p>In the main text: "In a 1995 Science paper, Venter’s team sequenced the genome of Mycoplasma genitalium, a sexually transmitted microbe with the smallest genome of any known free-living organism, and mapped its 470 genes."<p>Which is it? Venter would have seemed to disproven his own claim to novelty, unless we've found new genes in <i>M. genitalium</i>'s genome since 1995.<p>Edit: As with most biological terms, part of the problem is the fuzziness of the definition of "gene". More recent studies claim <i>M. genitalium</i> has 525 genes [1], but that might be including tRNA and ncRNA regions. I'd still object to the article's poor editing. Also, let's get down to brass tacks here: we've only trimmed a 580kb genome down to 531kb (9% reduction). Clearly, life is already pretty damn efficient.<p>[1] <a href="http://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(12)00776-3" rel="nofollow">http://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(12)00776-3</a>