Researchers Take Step Toward Synthetic Life

Taking a significant step toward the creation of synthetic forms of life, researchers reported Thursday that they had manufactured the entire genome of a bacterium by stitching together its chemical components... The feat is a watershed for the emerging field called synthetic biology, which involves the design of organisms to perform particular tasks, like making biofuels... But there are concerns that synthetic biology could be used to make pathogens, or that errors by well-intended scientists could produce organisms that run amok.

Michelle submitted 346 Days Ago, www.nytimes.com, 1 of 1 people found this post informative
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by clairity on 01/25/08 (1 of 1 people found this comment informative)

Wow. Cool but scary. I don't like eating GMO foods, but it might help the energy crisis to make plants that make biofuel better, as they are saying... Even the authors are using language ripped from B-movies: "errors by well-intended scientists could produce organisms that run amok." and "synthetic biology needs outside regulation to prevent the introduction of dangerous organisms, created by evil intent or by innocent error"...

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by stuart on 01/31/08 (0 of 0 people found this comment informative)

It is fair to always make the assumption that if a new technology can be weaponized it will, without a doubt, be weoponized. A quick look at the proportion of R&D money and minds devoted to military applications in this country also tells us that the weaponization of these technologies does not come from "the terrorists".

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