- Joined
- Jul 20, 2005
- Messages
- 20,688
- Reaction score
- 7,320
- Location
- Washington, DC
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Liberal
This is cool stuff, however I think it may be a little over hyped. From what it looks like, they copied a living bacterium's DNA and transplanted it into another cell. We can already do this using plasmids. However, this is a great achievement in science.
It is now time to create an unstoppable military.
The title is misleading.
The life form isn't 100% artificial. They can't create the spark of life yet. All they did was transplant artificial genetic code into an already-functional cell membrane.
In another step forward in the quest to create artificial life in a test tube, a team of genetic engineers led by Craig Venter has built a synthetic genome and proved that it can power up when placed inside an existing cell.
The New York Times said:Dr. Venter calls the result a “synthetic cell” and is presenting the research as a landmark achievement that will open the way to creating useful microbes from scratch to make products like vaccines and biofuels. At a press conference Thursday, Dr. Venter described the converted cell as “the first self-replicating species we’ve had on the planet whose parent is a computer.”
The technical achievement is worth crowing about. The researchers built on Venter’s trick from last year, in which he took the genome from one bacterium, transferred it the hollowed-out shell of a different bacterial species, and watched as the new cell “booted up” successfully. In this new step, the researchers built a genome from scratch, copying the genetic code from a bacterium that infects goats and introducing just a few changes as a “watermark”; then they transferred that synthetic genome to a cell. As the researchers report in Science, the cell functioned and replicated, creating more copies of the slightly altered goat-infecting bacterium–now nicknamed Synthia.
The title is misleading.
The life form isn't 100% artificial. They can't create the spark of life yet. All they did was transplant artificial genetic code into an already-functional cell membrane.
It's still a cool accomplishment, because this will pave the way for programming bacteria. Science still can't create life from scratch though.
Well, I think most here can see how the words "programming bacteria" can lead to something more shall we say, not good in the future.
Today we prorgam bacteria. Tomorrow.......humans?
Cool as hell, but caution needs to be the call of the day. Some freak is gonna look at this and think about military applications and non-state sponsored applications.
I don't think this can really be stopped. Humans are already researching genetic manipulation. It's only a matter of time before it has wider uses. We can't look for the knowledge and then balk at it and run away once it's discovered.
All this means is that we have to have self-control when we discover it.
Like I said, today bacteria, tomorrow humans.
Not to be Debbie Downer or anything but self-control, isn't a Hallmark staple when talking about the human race and science.
Don't get me wrong, I am a science geek with stuff like this, but all you can do is hope whoever is in control of this stuff has the ethics and moral code to do the right things with it.
The title is misleading.
The life form isn't 100% artificial. They can't create the spark of life yet. All they did was transplant artificial genetic code into an already-functional cell membrane.
It's still a cool accomplishment, because this will pave the way for programming bacteria. Science still can't create life from scratch though.
Scientists working with J. Craig Venter have successfully created a completely artificial life form for the first time in human history. Today is truly a milestone in biotechnology, unrivaled since the Human Genome Project was completed in 2003.
BBC News - 'Artificial life' breakthrough announced by scientists
Scientists working with J. Craig Venter have successfully created a completely artificial life form for the first time in human history. Today is truly a milestone in biotechnology, unrivaled since the Human Genome Project was completed in 2003.
BBC News - 'Artificial life' breakthrough announced by scientists
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?