It’s Alive!

It’s Alive!

May 20, 2010, 1:07 pm
Filed under: BoingBoing, Brave New World, MetaFilter, PZ Myers, Science, Science Fiction, tech

Just breaking:

WASHINGTON – Scientists have created a living cell powered by manmade DNA.

Here’s some more, from the source:

Now, this scientific team headed by Drs. Craig Venter, Hamilton Smith and Clyde Hutchison have achieved the final step in their quest to create the first synthetic bacterial cell. In a publication in Science magazine, Daniel Gibson, Ph.D. and a team of 23 additional researchers outline the steps to synthesize a 1.08 million base pair Mycoplasma mycoides genome, constructed from four bottles of chemicals that make up DNA. This synthetic genome has been “booted up” in a cell to create the first cell controlled completely by a synthetic genome.

Implications? I agree with Freeman Dyson:

I feel sure of only one conclusion. The ability to design and create new forms of life marks a turning-point in the history of our species and our planet.

The stuff of science fiction, now made fact.

Edited to add 5/21: PZ has a good explanation of the actual science you may want to read.

Jim Downey

(Via MeFi, BB, and other places.)

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