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But Is It Life?
The Guardian reported this past weekend that J. Craig Venter will soon announce that he has created artificial life. Venter and his team of 20 scientists constructed a 381-gene chromosome, the bare minimum needed for a living organism. Based on the bacterium Mycoplasmum genitalium, they will then transplant this new genome, called Mycoplasmum laboratorium, into an already living bacterial cell.
This new bacteria could lead to the creation of lifeforms that might play roles in novel medical treatments, such as biofuels generation or the digestion of atmospheric CO2. Or they could lead to lifeforms that could also be used to create deadly biological weapons.
But the AFP quotes Venter’s spokesperson Heather Kowalski as saying, “The Guardian is ahead of themselves on this.” She has also promised that Venter’s Institute will not announce the creation of artificial life until they publish a scientific paper on it. “We have not achieved what some have speculated we have in synthetic life,” she explained. “When we do so there will be a scientific publication and we are likely months away from that.”
Still, in October 2006 Venter did file for a patent on the essential Mycoplasmum laboratorium genome and synthetic “free-living organism.” Whatever the case, science bloggers and academics are already busy examining how Venter’s apparent quest could play out.
Ron Bailey at Reason’s Hit & Run blog has a summation of how artificial life will change the discipline of biology. Nature blogger Philip Ball has a blog post from June about the intellectual property implications of patenting the basic building blocks of synthetic biology, even if they are isolated by researchers. And Arti Rai has an article on possible solutions to this problem in PLoS Biology.
For an international perspective, India’s merinews has a skeptical article from a citizen, which claims that Venter’s proposed creation would not be an artificial life form since it is made from a naturally existing organism with 80 percent of its genes knocked out.
For more on Venter himself, The Guardian has an excerpt from his 400-page autobiography, set to be released on October 18.
Comments on this article
Change is the most permanent thing in life, research and innovation is the vanguard component mankind needs inorder to achieve contemporary solutions for the posterity of mankind,When this comes with social responsibility we ideally will all benefit. Bravo, keep it up and good luck!
October 10th, 2007 at 3:52 pmSuch progress is great. I just hope that we use it in the correct way. Science fascinates me but at the same times scares me at times when the consequences are not measured.
October 10th, 2007 at 3:55 pmHope to hear more about this in the years to come.
Have a peaceful day!