A step closer to artificial organisms
September 6th 2007 09:20
From the J. Craig Venter Institute:
"ROCKVILLE, MD — June 28, 2007 — Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) today announced the results of work on genome transplantation methods allowing them to transform one type of bacteria into another type dictated by the transplanted chromosome. The work, published online in the journal Science, by JCVI’s Carole Lartigue, Ph.D. and colleagues, outlines the methods and techniques used to change one bacterial species, Mycoplasma capricolum into another, Mycoplasma mycoides Large Colony (LC), by replacing one organism’s genome with the other one’s genome.
“The successful completion of this research is important because it is one of the key proof of principles in synthetic genomics that will allow us to realize the ultimate goal of creating a synthetic organism,” said J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., president and chairman, JCVI. “We are committed to this research as we believe that synthetic genomics holds great promise in helping to solve issues like climate change and in developing new sources of energy.” "
The knowledge gained from this sort of biological engineering (and what's been achieved here is by itself remarkable) will be used to design and create artificial organisms (artificial in the sense that they have not evolved; they will be very much "alive" in exactly the same way as natural organisms). Such organisms will be programmed and designed to do all sorts of things, like synthesising biofuels and acting as markers for dangerous substances. Genes are functionally analogous to software, and it will soon be possible to custom build an organism to a very specific set of criteria.
What does everyone think of this? I personally have no problem with it; it will likely herald many new solutions in manufacturing chemicals, helping the environment, fighting diseases, and increasing the quality of human life. Some, like the Vatican, have denounced this type of research as "insane arrogance". Being an atheist, I don't much care for religious objections to anything. When (not if) scientists finally build life from scratch, it will strike a deadly blow against vitalism (though I doubt that peoples' religious beliefs will actually be much affected) and will reinforce the public's interest in biology as the science cuts closer to our lives.
"ROCKVILLE, MD — June 28, 2007 — Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) today announced the results of work on genome transplantation methods allowing them to transform one type of bacteria into another type dictated by the transplanted chromosome. The work, published online in the journal Science, by JCVI’s Carole Lartigue, Ph.D. and colleagues, outlines the methods and techniques used to change one bacterial species, Mycoplasma capricolum into another, Mycoplasma mycoides Large Colony (LC), by replacing one organism’s genome with the other one’s genome.
“The successful completion of this research is important because it is one of the key proof of principles in synthetic genomics that will allow us to realize the ultimate goal of creating a synthetic organism,” said J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., president and chairman, JCVI. “We are committed to this research as we believe that synthetic genomics holds great promise in helping to solve issues like climate change and in developing new sources of energy.” "
The knowledge gained from this sort of biological engineering (and what's been achieved here is by itself remarkable) will be used to design and create artificial organisms (artificial in the sense that they have not evolved; they will be very much "alive" in exactly the same way as natural organisms). Such organisms will be programmed and designed to do all sorts of things, like synthesising biofuels and acting as markers for dangerous substances. Genes are functionally analogous to software, and it will soon be possible to custom build an organism to a very specific set of criteria.
What does everyone think of this? I personally have no problem with it; it will likely herald many new solutions in manufacturing chemicals, helping the environment, fighting diseases, and increasing the quality of human life. Some, like the Vatican, have denounced this type of research as "insane arrogance". Being an atheist, I don't much care for religious objections to anything. When (not if) scientists finally build life from scratch, it will strike a deadly blow against vitalism (though I doubt that peoples' religious beliefs will actually be much affected) and will reinforce the public's interest in biology as the science cuts closer to our lives.
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