If these genes are so important to the proper operation of the cell and we do not know what they do, it means we still have a long way to go before we fully understand cellular life - and that includes humans.
Senior agent in the US Drug Enforcement Administration John Comer warned that while the operation to dismantle this particular cell had been successful, it was just one of many operating in the Atlanta area.
Noel Young, of Metal Bridge, near Carlisle, was serving a sentence for causing death by dangerous driving when he ran the drugs operation using three mobile phones from his cell.