Genetic Pioneer Trumpets Birth of First Artificial Life

[جوري]

Genetic Pioneer Trumpets Birth of First Artificial Life

AOL News
(May 20) -- The controversial American scientist who a decade ago developed a remarkable shortcut in mapping the human genome says he's now produced the first version of synthetic life.

"Synthia," as Dr. Craig Venter and his research team at the J. Craig Venter Institute have dubbed it, is actually a stripped-down bacterium that's been outfitted with a man-made genome. The creation cost around $30 million.

"This is the first synthetic cell that's been made, and we call it synthetic because the cell is totally derived from a synthetic chromosome, made with four bottles of chemicals on a chemical synthesizer, starting with information in a computer," Venter said of his work, which is described in the journal Science this week. "This is the first self-replicating species that we have had on the planet whose parent is a computer."
David S. Holloway, Getty Images
Dr. J. Craig Venter has rocked the scientific world by claiming he has produced a cell that is totally derived from a synthetic chromosome, a development that could pave the way for custom-made vaccines.


Venter's breakthrough could open up an entirely new realm of synthetic science, allowing researchers to create custom-made vaccines, eco-friendly biofuels and other beneficial microbes. In other words, make and shape cells to do human bidding.

Venter and company created a genome that's around 1 million base pairs long (by comparison, a human genome is around 3 billion base pairs long). The code they inserted into the DNA includes the researchers' names, along with poetry, quotes and an e-mail address -- so that anyone who decodes the genome can let the team know.

The process to create the cell was a lengthy one: Venter has been working on the initiative for more than three years. Some experts anticipate that in the future, cell creation will be streamlined and simplified.

"I hope the day comes when making genomes is something everyone can do," Pamela Silver, a systems biologist at Harvard Medical School, told Live Science.

Venter's team says it's already collaborating with major companies, including Big Pharma and oil and gas firms, on ambitious plans for the future of synthetic biology.

Still, there are kinks to work out. Right now, the synthetic bacterium is able to reproduce, but several of its genes don't yet work properly.

And others in the field aren't so sure that Venter is using the best approach.

"He has not created life, only mimicked it," Dr. David Baltimore, a Caltech geneticist, told The New York Times.

While the genome was artificial, the bacterium wasn't -- making it a ready host to turn on the genome, grow and reproduce like a natural cell. Although the genome's synthetic nature is new, transferring a genome into a host cell has been possible for more than 20 years.

And regular genetic engineering is already making rapid strides in biofuel and vaccine production, among other pursuits. Venter's approach, while remarkable, will take years to catch up.

http://www.aolnews.com/science/artic...-life/19485482

[Trumble]

Hmmm... Call me a Luddite if you will, but am I the only one who thinks our species isn't responsible enough for this sort of thing yet (if, indeed ever)?

[جوري]

Hmmm... Call me a Luddite if you will, but am I the only one who thinks our species isn't responsible enough for this sort of thing yet (if, indeed ever)?

I am not sure really what he is hoping to accomplish? it is exorbitant in fees and 'several genes don't work properly' per above.. I am all for technological advancement if it is purposeful.. producing Insulin using E-coli is brilliant.. but I am not sure I understand the purpose of the above?..

all the best

[InfiniteMercy]

Yeah i heard about this story, but im actually surprised nobody has already accomplished this already (mayb it has been by some governments but have kept their work secret)

[Hamayun]

Seen some Atheists celebrate this as if it's proof of the non-existance of God.

[جوري]

Seen some Atheists celebrate this as if it's proof of the non-existance of God.

how so? not only did he take products already in existence, but he manipulated them thoroughly and per article this 'creation' has many errors.. if anything it should establish the opposite in my humble opinion.

[Life_Is_Short]

Seen some Atheists celebrate this as if it's proof of the non-existance of God.

The elements to make it possible were already there. That those elements were already in existence - and since man did not create those elements - man has not created life.

[FS123]

Seen some Atheists celebrate this as if it's proof of the non-existance of God.

Mechanism for life is already there, tweaking the mechanism is not considered creation.

[Karina]

Oh no. A very dangerous road, surely? Just think if this type of thing got into the wrong hands!

Surely nature (nature to me, God to you) is perfect - who are we to meddle and manipulate, and if we do, how do we know the consequences??


Not really sure what to think of this. It's scary.

[جوري]

Oh no. A very dangerous road, surely? Just think if this type of thing got into the wrong hands!

Surely nature (nature to me, God to you) is perfect - who are we to meddle and manipulate, and if we do, how do we know the consequences??


Not really sure what to think of this. It's scary.

I agree.. still I only look to Genetic engineering as the only hope to combat many deadly diseases.. but I am not sure if some folks tamper for the hell of it.. and I am not sure who is funding such projects.. if it were the govt. it would be a gross misuse of the tax-payers money and if privately funded by pharmaceutical or scientific labs then that too is a sad misuse of resources that can go on to eradicate far more deadly diseases ..

[sur]

What Craig Venter did new was that he developed synthetic-nucleotides(Bricks That Makeup Wall of DNA),,, all other processes he used were already in use, nothing new,,,

He used GOD-made DNA template as moulds on which he sequenced his synthetic-nucleotides,,, So he took the arrangement from God's creation.By steeling that GOD made arrangement of genes of nucleotides he was able to get DNA strands that were synthetic copy of GOD-made strands...


Then they used a GOD-Made E.Coli & yeast's body to get more copies of those strands,,, Then they incorporated those strands into a hollowed out GOD-Made bacterial body, & hurray it started to replicate,,, & claims that he made life from scratch,,, & then some atheists-minded jump out of couch at this news that finally they'd be proven right.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/s...you-think.html

And yet the reality turns out to be much more prosaic. Dr Venter has created an artificial version of the DNA (moulded on GOD-made DNA templates)– the set of chemical instructions which determine what an individual cell will build and reproduce – for a very simple form of bacteria, and has inserted this into a cell from which the original DNA had been removed. The bacterium reproduced itself normally, using Dr Venter's version of the DNA (from which he had removed about 100 genes), eventually creating more than a billion copies.

As Dr Venter's less hysterical colleagues have noted, that is not the same as creating life

[CosmicPathos]

This news did catch my eyes. Even though it is a synthetic cell, he had to insert the genome into an already (by nature?) created bacterium cell which includes cell wall, cytosol, proteins in cell membrane etc. I am not sure what proteins this genome was coding. And were those proteins expressed? Were they similar to the ones which were already inserted in the bacterium's plasma membrane from previous genome?

I think the Islamic opinion is that not all living things have souls. For example, trees are living things but they dont have souls. So soul is something which is independent of the life as we define it for one cell. So from that perspective, this living bacterial cell has no soul. I do not think a human cell has a soul either. Soul is something fixed outside the collection of cells I presume within our body. Wallahu aalim.

Despite trees lacking a soul, they can feel and sense. At least at molecular level there is chemotaxis. I remember the story from Prophet's pbuh life when a tree on which he used to lean started to cry when he stopped leaning on it .... subhanAllah. This means that soul is not responsible for our senses. This stupid atheist on youtube was arguing that if we cut our nose then why cant we smell if we really have a soul? His presumption was that soul can smell, something which is not proven from islamic religious texts.

Just some randomness which popped into my mind after seeing this thread.

@ Sr Lily: Genetic engineering is indeed interesting. Sadly, the related techniques of genetic therapies have miserably failed in the last 20 years except few successes.

[marwen]

Biology is not my thing, I'm not sure I totally understood the experiment. But it seems like the usual DNA manipulations of already existing cells no ? There is nothing created from scratch.

[Woodrow]

Shucks for less than a dollar I did the same thing as a kid. I tried to make a jelly fish, used a mixture of sodium silicate solution, corn starch, casein glue and I believe gelatin and cooked it up into a blob. When my sister found it in her bed that night she was convinced it was alive.

[جوري]

Shucks for less than a dollar I did the same thing as a kid. I tried to make a jelly fish, used a mixture of sodium silicate solution, corn starch, casein glue and I believe gelatin and cooked it up into a blob. When my sister found it in her bed that night she was convinced it was alive.

bwahahaha.. who knew you were so mischievous? couldn't stick with old fashioned spiders and frogs ey?

[Woodrow]

bwahahaha.. who knew you were so mischievous? couldn't stick with old fashioned spiders and frogs ey?

As mischievous as I was looking back at that prank, my mixture actually was not much different from what this "Scientist" did. although since I was small budget and only tried to convince my sister it was alive, my experiment never got the publicity he is getting. But I doubt if his mess is any more alive than my "Jellyfish" was.

[CosmicPathos]

aww br woodrow ... do you feel nostalgic on your past life? Sometimes I have this strong urge to go back in time or to at least feeze time but I know its wishful thinking and from shaitan because it is against reality .... I just feel overwhelmed by the flow of time. How do you deal with it? Totally offtopic.

[Woodrow]

aww br woodrow ... do you feel nostalgic on your past life? Sometimes I have this strong urge to go back in time or to at least feeze time but I know its wishful thinking and from shaitan because it is against reality .... I just feel overwhelmed by the flow of time. How do you deal with it? Totally offtopic.

As a person enters into their 7th decade of journey on this place we call life. There comes a very vibrant reflection of memories and an awareness that 70 years has passed in just a moment. It is a very interesting phenomena while I can not remember where I put my glasses 10 seconds ago memories of events 65 years ago are sharply vivid down to the smallest detail. It is either a gift or a punishment. I view it as a gift as I am being given the opportunity to repent for things I should have done differently.

Now to put this back in perspective with the topic. The scientist has produced no new claims. I have read of similar claims many times in my lifetime. All which eventually turn out to be a misunderstanding of what constitutes life. The most probable outcome of this will be additional criteria to determine what is meant by life. I have never come across any scientific definition of what life is, just examples of the effects of life. A dead cell is made of the same ingredients a live cell is. I have never seen an adequate explanation as to why one differs from the other. Something beyond our physical concepts of this universe are at work. Life can only be defined and explained as being the creation of Allaah(swt) any other reason is implausible and physically impossible. Just my opinion astagfirullah

[CosmicPathos]

As a person enters into their 7th decade of journey on this place we call life. There comes a very vibrant reflection of memories and an awareness that 70 years has passed in just a moment. It is a very interesting phenomena while I can not remember where I put my glasses 10 seconds ago memories of events 65 years ago are sharply vivid down to the smallest detail. It is either a gift or a punishment. I view it as a gift as I am being given the opportunity to repent for things I should have done differently.

Now to put this back in perspective with the topic. The scientist has produced no new claims. I have read of similar claims many times in my lifetime. All which eventually turn out to be a misunderstanding of what constitutes life. The most probable outcome of this will be additional criteria to determine what is meant by life. I have never come across any scientific definition of what life is, just examples of the effects of life. A dead cell is made of the same ingredients a live cell is. I have never seen an adequate explanation as to why one differs from the other. Something beyond our physical concepts of this universe are at work. Life can only be defined and explained as being the creation of Allaah(swt) any other reason is implausible and physically impossible. Just my opinion astagfirullah

very enligthening and thoughtful response.

Life at the moment is defined by some of its properties such as reproduction, evolution, organization, metabolism etc. Very much like how water was define 3 centuries ago as liquid, tasteless, colorless. This has huge ramifications for astronomers who are searching for life on other worlds as we do not even know what constitutes life. For example polyaromtic hydrocarbons (PAH) are thought to be primitive forms of life as they share many similar qualities .... wallahu aalim ... He has put in mysteries for us to discover .... within the confines of time's progression .... albeit with a limited life to find them and to dive into their depths ... isnt it a great feeling to stand in awe of His creative and destructive power when one realizes how things have come to be on molecular level ... extensive protein networks communicating with each other .... chattering and babbling for 3.8 billion years ...

[saifudheen]

What Craig Venter did new was that he developed synthetic-nucleotides(Bricks That Makeup Wall of DNA),,, all other processes he used were already in use, nothing new,,,

He used GOD-made DNA template as moulds on which he sequenced his synthetic-nucleotides,,, So he took the arrangement from God's creation.By steeling that GOD made arrangement of genes of nucleotides he was able to get DNA strands that were synthetic copy of GOD-made strands...


Then they used a GOD-Made E.Coli & yeast's body to get more copies of those strands,,, Then they incorporated those strands into a hollowed out GOD-Made bacterial body, & hurray it started to replicate,,, & claims that he made life from scratch,,, & then some atheists-minded jump out of couch at this news that finally they'd be proven right.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/s...you-think.html

Athiest:
Haw haw haw, I love it when people clutch to straws. He synthesised the DNA which was then inserted into a cell which then demonstrated all the characteristics of life.

Which part of synthesised did you not understand?