Science > Abortion > I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer
| Topic: |
Science > Abortion |
| User: |
"J Young" |
| Date: |
08 Oct 2007 11:59:30 PM |
| Object: |
I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer |
This is what atheistic liberalism has wrought. Are you proud now?
You've made it easy to kill real babies while fiendishly trying to
create
artificial ones in a lab.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/oct/06/genetics.climatechange
I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer
=B7 Scientist has made synthetic chromosome
=B7 Breakthrough could combat global warming
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
important 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 support 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 important 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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| User: "Cary Kittrell" |
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| Title: Re: I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer |
09 Oct 2007 12:02:45 PM |
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In article <1191905970.751080.277710@v3g2000hsg.googlegroups.com> J Young <younginsights@aol.com> writes:
This is what atheistic liberalism has wrought. Are you proud now?
You've made it easy to kill real babies while fiendishly trying to
create
artificial ones in a lab.
Read a lot of EC comics when young, did we?
-- cary
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| User: "johac" |
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| Title: Re: I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer |
09 Oct 2007 06:53:51 PM |
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In article <1191905970.751080.277710@v3g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>,
J Young <younginsights@aol.com> wrote:
This is what atheistic liberalism has wrought. Are you proud now?
You've made it easy to kill real babies while fiendishly trying to
create
artificial ones in a lab.
Now where does the article say that they want to make artificial babies?
Read before you post.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/oct/06/genetics.climatechange
--
John #1782
"We should always be disposed to believe that which appears to us to be
white is really black, if the hierarchy of the church so decides."
- Saint Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556) Founder of the Jesuit Order.
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| User: "Ray Fischer" |
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| Title: Re: I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer |
10 Oct 2007 12:10:28 AM |
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J Young <younginsights@aol.com> wrote:
This is what atheistic liberalism has wrought. Are you proud now?
The insanity of the religious: They insist that God is superior to
man because only He can create life, and then when men create life
these religious kooks screech about how immoral it all is.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/oct/06/genetics.climatechange
I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer
--
Ray Fischer
rfischer@sonic.net
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| User: "Mark K. Bilbo" |
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| Title: Re: I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer |
09 Oct 2007 07:36:38 AM |
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On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 21:59:30 -0700, J Young wrote:
This is what atheistic liberalism has wrought. Are you proud now?
That we're able to create life? Sure!
--
Mark K. Bilbo a.a. #1423
EAC Department of Linguistic Subversion
------------------------------------------------------------
"You believe in a book that has talking animals, wizards,
witches, demons, sticks turning into snakes, food falling
from the sky, people walking on water, and all sorts of magical,
absurd and primitive stories, and you say that *we* are the
ones that need help?" - Jon Stoll
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| User: "MarkA" |
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| Title: Re: I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer |
09 Oct 2007 06:46:54 AM |
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On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 21:59:30 -0700, J Young wrote:
This is what atheistic liberalism has wrought. Are you proud now?
You've made it easy to kill real babies while fiendishly trying to
create
artificial ones in a lab.
Alright, asswipe. What is so 'fiendish' about DNA research? (Let's skip
the usual exchange about the rhetorical dishonesty of the phrase "killing
babies"). I realize that your ilk would rather be living in the dark
ages, but the rest of the world is moving forward. Care to join us?
--
MarkA
(My OTHER sig line is clever)
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| User: "=?iso-8859-1?B?R3d5bmXw?=" |
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| Title: Re: I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer |
09 Oct 2007 08:34:31 AM |
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On Oct 8, 11:59 pm, J Young <younginsig...@aol.com> wrote:
This is what atheistic liberalism has wrought. Are you proud now?
You've made it easy to kill real babies...
When was the last time you saved an Iraqi child from certain death?
Exactly.
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| User: "Ghost Rider" |
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| Title: Re: I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer |
09 Oct 2007 08:03:32 PM |
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They will get their comeuppance,don`t worry :)
"J Young" <younginsights@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1191905970.751080.277710@v3g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
This is what atheistic liberalism has wrought. Are you proud now?
You've made it easy to kill real babies while fiendishly trying to
create
artificial ones in a lab.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/oct/06/genetics.climatechange
I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer
· Scientist has made synthetic chromosome
· Breakthrough could combat global warming
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
important 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 support 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 important 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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| User: "LC" |
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| Title: Re: I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer |
09 Oct 2007 08:15:21 AM |
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Too dumb to evolve, "J Young" <younginsights@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1191905970.751080.277710@v3g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
This is what atheistic liberalism has wrought. Are you proud now?
You've made it easy to kill real babies while fiendishly trying to
create
artificial ones in a lab.
And so here comes yet another life form smarter than "J Young".
.
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