Using Synthetic DNA, Genetic Engineers Create Artificial Life Form

Genetic engineers announced the creation of a living organism with synthetic DNA sequencing. That scientists have created a so-called life form from scratch has created a good news/bad news scenario. Man-made DNA sequencing could lead to new drugs, vaccines, sources of food, and even fuel. It also concerns those who imagine killer germs in the hands of state-sponsored bioterrorists. A warning about synthetic DNA has also been issued by the Catholic church to scientists.

Article Resource: Genetic engineers create artificial life form using synthetic DNA

From scratch, synthetic genome sequencing

Synthetic DNA sequencing is actually a result of 15 years work and $ 40 million in investments by the J. Craig Venter institute. As reported Friday in the journal Science, genetic engineers succeeded for the first time in making a copy of a bacterium’s entire genome. That genome was then transplanted into a different bacteria emptied of its own genome. Once the DNA assimilated, the recipient bacteria started to function and reproduce within the exact same manner as the naturally occurring bacteria from which the synthetic DNA was copied.

Genetic Code gluing together

Computer designed synthetic bacteria have fueled scientific curiosity for years and years with the huge promise of a large instant loans from cheap, efficient production of custom enzymes, fuels and medications. The Christian Science Monitor reports that to create this synthetic DNA, scientists at J. Craig Venter Institute had to use yeast to glue together thousands of DNA snippets. With painstaking microscopic precision, the strands of genetic code were to come together in runs of tens of thousands of base pairs, and then hundreds of thousands, until the yeast produced a very complete 1.08 million-base-pair synthetic genome.

Controversies with genetic engineering

Genetic engineering of synthetic DNA, if perfected, promises exciting technological benefits. It also will attract government regulation and fear. Bloomberg reports that some bio-scientists warn that genetic engineering companies like the J. Craig Venter Institute that can manufacture synthetic DNA should be watching their backs very closely. Speaking about the way the J. Craig Venter Institute coordinated efforts with other laboratories to cook up the genome, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute-supported bioengineer at Boston University, James Collins, told Bloomberg that “They sent out chunks of the genetic code to companies and asked them each to synthesize parts of it,” Collins said. “You don’t want bad guys to order 10 parts of a nasty virus from 10 different groups and then put them together.”

Catholic Church scared by synthetic DNA

The Catholic Church has given their opinion on the issue. The Associated Press reports that Catholic Church officials said Friday the recently created first synthetic cell could be a positive development if correctly used, but warned scientists that only God can create life. Bishop Domenico Mogavero says that he just doesn’t want scientists trying to play God. “Pretending to be God and parroting his power of creation is an enormous risk that can plunge men into a barbarity,” Mogavero told the newspaper La Stampa. Scientists “should never forget that there is only one creator: God.”

Discover more details on this topic

Science

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/science.1190719

The Christian Science Monitor reports

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0521/J.-Craig-Venter-Institute-creates-first-synthetic-life-form

Bloomberg reports

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0521/J.-Craig-Venter-Institute-creates-first-synthetic-life-form

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