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On The Brink Of Artificial Life
business week ^ | 6/25/07 | NEWS & INSIGHTS

Posted on 06/17/2007 6:37:25 PM PDT by Flavius

Craig Venter says success is near, but critics blast efforts to patent synthetic organisms

First he succeeded in reading humanity's genetic code. Now gene pioneer J. Craig Venter believes he is within weeks or months of creating the world's first free-living artificial organism in his laboratory. It won't be much to look at—a tiny bacterium with only a few hundred genes. But if it's truly feasible, he says, "it will be one of the bright milestones in human history, changing our conceptual view of life."

(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: god; not; science
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no mommies no daddies no God, welcome to matrix

either that, or a flood, maybe the microbes wont be able to swim


1 posted on 06/17/2007 6:37:27 PM PDT by Flavius
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To: wagglebee; narses; Salvation; Soul Seeker; little jeremiah; Salem; JulieRNR21; metmom

This is DAMN scary. There’s no telling what this could lead to. What if these artificial organisms have their own viruses that humans and other organic life have no defense against?

Perhaps the novel “Frankenstein” should have been required reading in the school systems. But Dr. Frankenstein has nothing on what is being done here.


2 posted on 06/17/2007 6:41:23 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued (If the GOP were to stop worshiping Free Trade as if it were a religion, they'd win every election)
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To: Flavius

” When we can synthesize life, it makes the notion of a living being less special.’

Discovering that the sun did not actually orbit the earth, displacing humans from the center of the universe, had the same effect. We became less special, in our eyes. Hopefully, species-level self-esteem won’t prevent us from creating life from scratch.


3 posted on 06/17/2007 6:45:01 PM PDT by gcruse
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To: Flavius

Convergence is near...will you be a PC or a Mac?


4 posted on 06/17/2007 6:49:31 PM PDT by AndrewB
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To: AndrewB

i think ive seen same cat twice


5 posted on 06/17/2007 6:51:10 PM PDT by Flavius
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To: ExTexasRedhead; EternalVigilance; ProCivitas

Brave New World ping


6 posted on 06/17/2007 6:52:20 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued (If the GOP were to stop worshiping Free Trade as if it were a religion, they'd win every election)
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To: Flavius

Everyone seems to overlook the fact that the term ‘artificial’ means:

“an imitation of something natural”

or...

“not genuine”

In other words, a FAKE!


7 posted on 06/17/2007 6:52:42 PM PDT by mkjessup (Jan 20, 2009 - "We Don't Know. Where Rudy Went. Just Glad He's Not. The President. Burma Shave.")
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To: Flavius

If they construct a microbe, it would still take God to give it the spark of life, but what would be its purpose on earth other than to satisfy the vanity of a scientist?


8 posted on 06/17/2007 6:53:00 PM PDT by BuffaloJack
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To: Flavius

Let me guess,most ot the “clones” are going to be IRS agents !!!


9 posted on 06/17/2007 6:53:26 PM PDT by Obie Wan
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To: Clintonfatigued
Venter proposed doing this (building an artificial lifeform) so that we could begin plugging in viruses found in the oceans to see what they do.

There are millions of such viruses, so this could take quite some time.

There are most likely critical components to intergalactic spaceships, time~machines, and a gazillion other gadgets and processes just floating around waiting for this to happen.

For the Creationists, it would be difficult to believe God didn't give us all the "seeds" for our "garden". For the Evolutionists, it would be difficult to believe that something Venter appears to be able to do after a couple of years work didn't also happen throughout the Cosmos in many places, and some of that "product" happen to travel to this sector of the Universe where we can scoop it up and work with it.

I get the feeling Venter is cackeling hideously, wringing his hands with glee, and anticipating getting ALL the money.

10 posted on 06/17/2007 6:55:08 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: AndrewB

Atari


11 posted on 06/17/2007 6:55:19 PM PDT by realpatriot (Some spelling errers entionally included!)
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To: Flavius

Well .. Jesus is coming sooner than expected.

God will never allow man to be the “genesis of life” - He already allows us to participate in bringing life into being .. but I cannot see it ever going any farther than that.


12 posted on 06/17/2007 6:56:28 PM PDT by CyberAnt (What is it about "ILLEGAL" that people don't understand ..??)
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To: mkjessup

Or, simply something produced by other than the normal means but otherwise chemically equivalent or identical.


13 posted on 06/17/2007 6:56:39 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: CyberAnt

Why? Did you not know that God throws dice in the dark and in places where even He can’t see them?


14 posted on 06/17/2007 6:58:09 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Obie Wan
Let me guess,most ot the “clones” are going to be IRS agents !!!

If I was Mexican I would be getting nervous. Surely we could create are own "creatures" that would do the things Americans are unwilling to do.

15 posted on 06/17/2007 6:59:07 PM PDT by Prokopton
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To: BuffaloJack
If they construct a microbe, it would still take God to give it the spark of life, but what would be its purpose on earth other than to satisfy the vanity of a scientist?

If you read the next paragraph of the article, you'll see that it could have some very practical purposes:

It also could be lucrative. Venter's company, Synthetic Genomics Inc., has already filed controversial patents on synthetic bugs, which could make fuels such as ethanol or hydrogen. And on June 13 it announced a deal with energy giant BPPLC to find and modify naturally occurring microbes that can turn coal or oil below the earth's surface into cleaner fuel. Microorganisms "have the potential to provide all the transportation fuel we need in the U.S.," says Venter. "I joke that I'm going from the gene king to the oil king."

16 posted on 06/17/2007 6:59:21 PM PDT by The Old Crone
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To: muawiyah
Or, simply something produced by other than the normal means but otherwise chemically equivalent or identical.

I'll be eagerly waiting to read about the chemical equivalent of a human soul.
17 posted on 06/17/2007 7:01:41 PM PDT by mkjessup (Jan 20, 2009 - "We Don't Know. Where Rudy Went. Just Glad He's Not. The President. Burma Shave.")
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To: muawiyah

Well .. you can believe what you want .. but God has a purpose for everything.

And .. He doesn’t throw “dice” but HE DOES THROW ROCKS [and that’s from the Bible].


18 posted on 06/17/2007 7:03:59 PM PDT by CyberAnt (What is it about "ILLEGAL" that people don't understand ..??)
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To: mkjessup
I'm sure it can be done once we get a grasp on manipulating the other 8 (or is it 11) dimensions of reality.

You know we already have a glimpse of just how much is hidden from us with the discovery of what is called "Dark Matter" and "Dark Energy".

The measurable, observable universe of ordinary matter and energy is at most less than 5% of the whole.

19 posted on 06/17/2007 7:04:20 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: CyberAnt
God will never allow man to be the “genesis of life” - He already allows us to participate in bringing life into being .. but I cannot see it ever going any farther than that.

So do you think God would be surprised or caught off guard by this?

20 posted on 06/17/2007 7:04:51 PM PDT by Ramius (Personally, I give us... one chance in three. More tea?)
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