The approach of removing unnecessary parts from a genome to find the minimum brings to mind Muntzing. In the 1940s, Earl Muntz was a TV seller who reduced manufacturing costs by cutting out unnecessary components. He walked around the lab with diagonal cutters and snipped out components until the TV stopped working. He'd put the last component back and have a new lower-cost design. The TVs only worked in high-signal areas, but were much cheaper than the competition and sold a ton.

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