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Scientists create artificial life form

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.

No, they removed a bacterium's DNA and replaced it with a DNA strand that they had invented. The cell then behaved the way that the scientists programmed it to behave, effectively creating a new species.
 
Like all things, this has both a postive and negative aspect.

The potential for great good and great harm exists.

Best we can do is stay ahead on the "good" part.

Cause eventually, someone's going to use it as a weapon, or at least make a weapon out of 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.
 
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.

That's the main challenge. It's like building a new kind of car from scratch, but using the shell of an old car. Or taking all the components of your desktop computer out of the case, and then building a new computer in the old case.

In this case, they just needed a shell because no other members of this species already exist. That will probably become the standard way of creating life. Since they've programmed the cell to behave the way they want it to behave, it's essentially a new species.
 
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Did Craig Venter Just Create Synthetic Life? The Jury Is Decidedly Out

This is awesome news! Now if the can just figure out a way to prevent IRS-1 signal degradation causing Insulin Resistance in muscle and adipose tissues, and have that replicated.

It would be neat if they could introduce genetic changes to human tissue and have it spread throughout that tissue.

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.

Did Craig Venter Just Create Synthetic Life? The Jury Is Decidedly Out | 80beats | Discover Magazine
 
This is awesome news! Now if the can just figure out a way to prevent IRS-1 signal degradation causing Insulin Resistance in muscle and adipose tissues, and have that replicated.

It would be neat if they could introduce genetic changes to human tissue and have it spread throughout that tissue.
 
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.

Exactly, they really didn't "create life" in the sense of a new being.

Still though, pretty cool stuff.

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.
 
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.
 
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.

Like I said, today bacteria, tomorrow humans.

All this means is that we have to have self-control when we discover it.

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.
 
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 test of the human race isn't making these discoveries, it is learning to live with the most dangerous knowledge without imploding as a race. Science will continue to make its discoveries regardless of the sociopolitical consequences. How the knowledge is used is up to us.

If it leads to our self-destruction, then oh well, we probably deserve it. Some other species on this planet will surely evolve to replace us, and maybe they will have a better go at it.
 
The next hundred years, heck the next fifty, should be quite facinating. I hope I'm around to see it all.
 
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.

I'm sure this planted DNA wasn't given the capacity to reproduce, but if it was they could define that reproduction how they like. That would mean they could build a unique creature from the planted DNA, as its offspring would be totally unique. A whole representation of the DNA, as yes the current bacteria is merely a holder of this DNA.
 
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

....strange that they couldn't simply find one spontaneously form by chance....

But no seriously when will Blizzard be updating their UI for custom genetic graft control?
 
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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

In my official roll of "Buzz-Killer" I would be remiss if I did not mention the "law of un-intended consequences" and the utmost importance of proceeding slowly and with great caution!
 
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