Breakthrough Means Artificial Life Could Be Here "Within Months"

Posted by Queuebot in Science & Tech on August 23, 2009 at 12:38 am


Another step in the quest to create life has been made, as scientists successfully transformed one bacteria into another by replacing it’s DNA with a related species’. Now, scientists are setting their sights on creating entirely new microbes with unique genome sequences, from scratch.

Dr Venter likened it to “changing a Macintosh computer into a PC by inserting a new piece of software” and stressed it would be more difficult in other kinds of cells, which have enzymes to snip the DNA of invaders.

But he said to achieve the feat, without adding anything more than naked DNA, “is a huge enabling step.”

“It’s a necessary step toward creating artificial life,” added microbiologist Fred Blattner of the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Dr Venter said that, in the light of this success, the culmination of a decade’s work, he will be attempting the first transplant of a lab-made genome to create the first artificial life “within months.”

Link – via presurfer

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by coconutnut.


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15 comments to "Breakthrough Means Artificial Life Could Be Here "Within Months""

  1. Triseult
    August 23rd, 2009 at 1:00 am

    This article is 2 years old, by the way.

  2. DaveL
    August 23rd, 2009 at 1:46 am

    Yo! Replicate me a pizza biotch!

  3. Random_Tangent
    August 23rd, 2009 at 2:02 am

    “changing a Macintosh computer into a PC by inserting a new piece of software”

    Oh if only it were as easy as just installing windows.

    Hey, waitaminute....

  4. coconutnut
    August 23rd, 2009 at 6:48 am

    Oh sorry, the article is from two years old but the updated story from this month is a continuation from that research; the update explains that trasplanting DNA grown from a lab into a living cell has failed since 2007 because of rejection issues. The breaktrough is that Dr. Craig Venter has developed a way to grow DNA which are methylated.
    "Methylation should protect the synthetic genome against the host cells’ defenses, much as drugs that suppress the immune system protect transplanted organs against rejection. "

    I was jumping around articles to get a picture I liked and I went for the old article by mistake. Really sorry about that.

  5. coconutnut
    August 23rd, 2009 at 6:57 am

    Here is the updated article.

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article6804599.ece

  6. A Noun
    August 23rd, 2009 at 9:25 am

    These people must be stopped - they're trying to change Macs into PCs!

  7. Tim Giachetti
    August 23rd, 2009 at 10:08 am

    @ A Noun

    Thanks, you made my morning! LOL

  8. Hannibal
    August 23rd, 2009 at 12:20 pm

    Children playing in the mud in God's workshop. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

  9. Edward
    August 23rd, 2009 at 12:37 pm

    As a member of the non-official Neatonauts Nay-Sayer Squad, "It will not work."

    Here is how you can tell: When scientists do something great, they brag and show it to the world. If they can't and no one else has proven they can't, they announce that a breakthrough is imminent and grab more funding. If they can and are about to do it, they hide from the world until they do.

  10. chessm
    August 23rd, 2009 at 1:48 pm

    we can't let this succeed or it will will lead to artificial intelligence, and then....artificial sweeteners!!

  11. Steohawk
    August 23rd, 2009 at 2:54 pm

    Does this count as intelligent design? :-P

  12. dutchboy
    August 23rd, 2009 at 3:52 pm

    Show me the beef.

  13. Gorf
    August 23rd, 2009 at 10:37 pm

    This is great! What could go wrong?

  14. ted
    August 24th, 2009 at 6:22 am

    We already know how to create life, and it's waay more fun.

  15. francis
    August 24th, 2009 at 11:31 am

    Venter continues to make money from bulls#!^, alsorans rush to agree with him.


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