theblackalchemist Posted December 6, 2008 Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 Experts a step closer to creating artificial life CHICAGO: Scientists have discovered a more efficient way of building a synthetic genome that could one day enable them to create artificial life,according to a study. The method is already being used to help develop next generation biofuels and biochemicals in the labs of controversial celebrity US scientist Craig Venter. Venter has hailed artificial life forms as a potential remedy to illness and global warming, but the prospect is highly controversial and arouses heated debate over its potential ramifications and the ethics of engineering artificial life. Artificially engineered life is one of the Holy Grails of science, but also stirs deep fears as foreseen in Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel ‘Brave New World' in which natural human reproduction is eschewed in favor of babies grown in laboratories. The J Craig Venter Institute succeeded in synthetically reproducing the DNA of a simple bacteria last year. The researchers had initially used the bacteria e coli to build the genome, but found it was a tedious, multi-stage process and that e. coli had difficulty reproducing large DNA segments. They eventually tried using a type of yeast called Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This enabled them to finish creating the synthetic genome using a method called homologous recombination, a process that cells naturally use to repair damage to their chromosomes. Experts a step closer to creating artificial life-Health/Sci-The Times of India Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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