¥ UltraMan ¥ wrote:
> I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer
> · Scientist has made synthetic chromosome
> · Breakthrough could combat global warming
>
> a.. Ed Pilkington in New York
> b.. The Guardian
> c.. Saturday October 6 2007
> 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
> im****tant 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 sup****t
> 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 im****tant 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."
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