I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer

[shadowprophet]

· Scientist has made synthetic chromosome
· Breakthrough could combat global warming

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. That gives us the hypothetical ability to do things never contemplated before".

The Guardian can reveal that a team of 20 top scientists assembled by Mr Venter, led by the Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith, has already constructed a synthetic chromosome, a feat of virtuoso bio-engineering never previously achieved. Using lab-made chemicals, they have painstakingly stitched together a chromosome that is 381 genes long and contains 580,000 base pairs of genetic code.

The DNA sequence is based on the bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium which the team pared down to the bare essentials needed to support life, removing a fifth of its genetic make-up. The wholly synthetically reconstructed chromosome, which the team have christened Mycoplasma laboratorium, has been watermarked with inks for easy recognition.

It is then transplanted into a living bacterial cell and in the final stage of the process it is expected to take control of the cell and in effect become a new life form. The team of scientists has already successfully transplanted the genome of one type of bacterium into the cell of another, effectively changing the cell's species. Mr Venter said he was "100% confident" the same technique would work for the artificially created chromosome.

The new life form will depend for its ability to replicate itself and metabolise on the molecular machinery of the cell into which it has been injected, and in that sense it will not be a wholly synthetic life form. However, its DNA will be artificial, and it is the DNA that controls the cell and is credited with being the building block of life.

Mr Venter said he had carried out an ethical review before completing the experiment. "We feel that this is good science," he said. He has further heightened the controversy surrounding his potential breakthrough by applying for a patent for the synthetic bacterium.

Pat Mooney, director of a Canadian bioethics organisation, ETC group, said the move was an enormous challenge to society to debate the risks involved. "Governments, and society in general, is way behind the ball. This is a wake-up call - what does it mean to create new life forms in a test-tube?"

He said Mr Venter was creating a "chassis on which you could build almost anything. It could be a contribution to humanity such as new drugs or a huge threat to humanity such as bio-weapons".

Mr Venter believes designer genomes have enormous positive potential if properly regulated. In the long-term, he hopes they could lead to alternative energy sources previously unthinkable. Bacteria could be created, he speculates, that could help mop up excessive carbon dioxide, thus contributing to the solution to global warming, or produce fuels such as butane or propane made entirely from sugar.

"We are not afraid to take on things that are important just because they stimulate thinking," he said. "We are dealing in big ideas. We are trying to create a new value system for life. When dealing at this scale, you can't expect everybody to be happy."

Via Guardian Unlimited

[SnesR0X]

Interesting, and it could have a lot of potential, but what if it screws up and they make some sort of weird new disease? I don't try to make it seem like I can completely comprehend what they're really doing here, but it's messed up no matter how you look at it :s

[shadowprophet]

Interesting, and it could have a lot of potential, but what if it screws up and they make some sort of weird new disease? I don't try to make it seem like I can completely comprehend what they're really doing here, but it's messed up no matter how you look at it :s

Its kind of alarming, The artificial life form. The man made human being. May not be a whim of fantasy in the future. What we can not achieve with nature. We can achieve with science and technology.

First the artificial life form, then the artificial human. The artificial soldier?
Fiction is becoming reality, It's almost ironic..

[gdf]

Meh, it was going to happen at some point. As long as people don't take $#@! like this too far it could have massive benefits.

[sourced]

isnt this how resident evil started...

genetic research>>experiments go out of hand>>disease forms>>people turn into zombies>>we all die.

or..things could end up like the "Bourne" series..

[armyStrong]

Amazing...continue the research and learn more...we're still a long way from artificial humans it would seem, but the idea of artificially creating life to produce fuel is a really interesting concept.

[ExcruciationX]

Meh, it was going to happen at some point. As long as people don't take $#@! like this too far it could have massive benefits.

Agreed.

[Cloudhunter]

Well, you've got to realise that artificial humans is a hell of a way away. Bacteria are far simpler than humans, and you've got to realise that humans have millions of cells, whereas bacteria are single cell organisms.

Cloudy

[sourced]

oh well. im looking forward to the day when resident evil comes to life.

[iniquitous_beast]

"Bacteria could be created, he speculates, that could help mop up excessive carbon dioxide, thus contributing to the solution to global warming [...]"

IDIOT! We already have life-forms which do just that! They are called TREES!

Why make something that is going to breed like crazy and potentially compete with plants for the Carbon Dioxide that they need to survive? Seriously, if we made something like that, we could cause a global famine. Plants flourish on CO2. Take it away; and the plants will die. So, why not just plant more trees?