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Thread: Man made life...

  1. #1
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    Man made life...

    Not wishing to incite an argument, but I do wonder what various religions will think of this...
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    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 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 said 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. That gives us the hypothetical ability to do things never contemplated before".
    ------------------------
    More...
    I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer | Science | The Guardian

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    Re: Man made life...

    Will that be write, as in Shakespeare, or write, as in the tabloids?

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    Re: Man made life...

    Quote Originally Posted by TA Guy View Post
    Not wishing to incite an argument, but I do wonder what various religions will think of this...
    --------------------------
    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.

    [/url]
    Hmm. If all he's done is to create a synthetic chromosome, his announcement will be rather premature...

    (Not that I wish to suggest it isn't a substantial achievement, but it isn't life, not as we know it, Jim...)

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    Re: Man made life...

    Quote Originally Posted by Barry Shnikov View Post
    Hmm. If all he's done is to create a synthetic chromosome, his announcement will be rather premature...

    (Not that I wish to suggest it isn't a substantial achievement, but it isn't life, not as we know it, Jim...)
    As I understand it, the synthetic chromosome has already been created.
    They have also (previously) extracted a 'natural' chromosome and 'inserted' it into a different bacteria, thus changing the bacterias species so to speak.
    This time, instead of inserting a natural chromosome, they are going to insert the synthetic one, thus creating a brand new, artificial, species of bacteria.

    OK, so it's bacteria. Nonetheless, pretty cool from a purely scientific viewpoint IMO.

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    Registered User Trousers's Avatar
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    Re: Man made life...

    I bet the Yakults are quaking in their lab coats!

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    Re: Man made life...

    I, for one, welcome our new artificial-life bacteria overlords.
    Let your mind go and your body will follow. – Steve Martin, LA Story

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    Registered User Beowulf's Avatar
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    Re: Man made life...

    Quote Originally Posted by ducasi View Post
    I, for one, welcome our new artificial-life bacteria overlords.
    And I for one join the fight against our evil oppressors ! Armed with the tome of righteousness (Kim and Aggie's Cleaning Bible) and the purging essence of cleanliness (Domestos) we will have a holy war .. a Jihad against these ungodly creations

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    Re: Man made life...

    Quote Originally Posted by Beowulf1970 View Post
    And I for one join the fight against our evil oppressors ! Armed with the tome of righteousness (Kim and Aggie's Cleaning Bible) and the purging essence of cleanliness (Domestos) we will have a holy war .. a Jihad against these ungodly creations
    Except, of course, that the Dosmestos competitors might design bacteria that like Dosmestos ...

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    Re: Man made life...

    All they need to do is unknowingly create a bacteria that feeds on Test Tube glass and we'll all be in deep doggy poo.

    Don't say I didn't warn you!!!

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    Registered User Tessalicious's Avatar
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    Re: Man made life...

    Quote Originally Posted by TA Guy View Post
    As I understand it, the synthetic chromosome has already been created.
    They have also (previously) extracted a 'natural' chromosome and 'inserted' it into a different bacteria, thus changing the bacterias species so to speak.
    This time, instead of inserting a natural chromosome, they are going to insert the synthetic one, thus creating a brand new, artificial, species of bacteria.

    OK, so it's bacteria. Nonetheless, pretty cool from a purely scientific viewpoint IMO.
    Agreed, but IMHO it cannot be counted as 'new' life. Artificial, yes, but the bacterium they will insert the chromosome into was alive before it had the new chromosome. Therefore, surely it's not 'man-made' but 'man-altered', which doesn't sound quite so impressive, especially when you bear in mind that we've been doing it on a smaller scale for years...

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    Re: Man made life...

    in all scientific breakthroughs are good. Ill wait for the first "they're playing God" comments from some religious nutters with baited breath Its amazing that things we manage to do as a race are sometimes things God never even considered

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    Re: Man made life...

    Quote Originally Posted by Tessalicious View Post
    Agreed, but IMHO it cannot be counted as 'new' life. Artificial, yes, but the bacterium they will insert the chromosome into was alive before it had the new chromosome. Therefore, surely it's not 'man-made' but 'man-altered', which doesn't sound quite so impressive, especially when you bear in mind that we've been doing it on a smaller scale for years...

    The only thing god like is Craig Venter's ego. He's more going for a Frankenstein approach and picking the best bits of one species and trying to bolt them on to another.

    I'm pretty sure this is a spin off of a project he started years ago to define the minimal genome for life using Mycoplasma genitalium, which I thought was always a rather pointless exercise. Mainly because a lot of cellular machinery is devoted to metabolism, processing the nutrients absorbed into forms that are either useful to the cell or from which energy can be extracted. M. genitalium has a very small genome in the first place as it is basically a parasite that lives inside other cells and absorbs all the processed nutrients, which its host had already expended energy absorbing and processing. So at what point can you say something is the minimal genes needed for life if all the nutrients it ever needs are given to it, at what point do you stop providing the raw materials it requires?

    Anyway science rant over

    For what it's worth the "Build-Your-Own-Bacterium" idea is nice enough but we really don't understand enough about central and secondary metabolism at the moment to be able to do it as envisioned by Craig Venter. Maybe in a decade or so. On the upside it keeps some of us in jobs. Besides natural mutations usually offer up some of the most novel and interesting ways of dealing with pollutants or extreme environments. If you bored have a search for extremophiles or archea, some truly amazing lifeforms!!!

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