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shrike · Oct 6, 2007, 10:52 am

I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer | Science | The Guardian

Quote:

Craig Venter, the controversial DNA researcher involved in the race to decipher the human genetic code, has built a synthetic chromosome out of laboratory chemicals and is poised to announce the creation of the first new artificial life form on Earth.

The announcement, which is expected within weeks and could come as early as Monday at the annual meeting of his scientific institute in San Diego, California, will herald a giant leap forward in the development of designer genomes. It is certain to provoke heated debate about the ethics of creating new species and could unlock the door to new energy sources and techniques to combat global warming.

Mr Venter told the Guardian he thought this landmark would be "a very important philosophical step in the history of our species. We are going from reading our genetic code to the ability to write it.

Suburbanite · Oct 6, 2007, 03:01 pm

this is genius, I was reading the world is flat and starting to think perhaps America had lost that mad scientist mentality. I guess I'm wrong, glad its the US doing it.

Thanatos · Oct 7, 2007, 10:15 pm

Cool, but overhyped. If I'm reading the article correctly its just a bacterium that was built from scrap parts and that has had its genome paired down a bit. This is somewhat more impressive than building a working virus from off the shelf goods:

CIDRAP >> Scientists create functioning virus in 2 weeks

But its still just making a pre-existing type of organism out of man-made components, like building a lego model from an instruction booklet. Its not going to eat the world or cure cancer, it just shows science has the capability to assemble something off of a schematic. Someday scientists may be able to draw their own schematics instead of just following old ones or tweaking existing models, and once THAT happens then all the really cool scifi stuff becomes practical.

Oct 7, 2007, 10:15 pm	#3 (permalink) (top)
Thanatos Arbiter of Weird Location: New Hampshire Posts: 1,060	Cool, but overhyped. If I'm reading the article correctly its just a bacterium that was built from scrap parts and that has had its genome paired down a bit. This is somewhat more impressive than building a working virus from off the shelf goods: CIDRAP >> Scientists create functioning virus in 2 weeks But its still just making a pre-existing type of organism out of man-made components, like building a lego model from an instruction booklet. Its not going to eat the world or cure cancer, it just shows science has the capability to assemble something off of a schematic. Someday scientists may be able to draw their own schematics instead of just following old ones or tweaking existing models, and once THAT happens then all the really cool scifi stuff becomes practical. Destroying America one Volconvo post at a time. Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony and irreconcilable hatreds than those which spring from any other cause.

Oct 6, 2007, 03:01 pm	#2 (permalink) (top)
Suburbanite BANNED Location: Los Angeles Posts: 3,203	this is genius, I was reading the world is flat and starting to think perhaps America had lost that mad scientist mentality. I guess I'm wrong, glad its the US doing it.