Scientists Create New Life Form

Posted by ZZ Bachman...

If this isn’t a slippery slope, I don’t know what is! One would think that the world has enough dangers lurking around before the next sun up without scientists creating a new species of bacteria!! I wonder if we are not witnessing a Mary Shelly sequel but we just don’t know it yet?

I sure hope these guys know what the hell they are doing! Remember the famous prophetic line in Jurassic Park spoken by the good Dr. Ian Malcom, “…Life always finds a way” and the movie’s underlying premise of chaos theory? Well guess what, a new life form has just been introduced to planet earth today and it did not arrive here as a result of space travel. It has arrived here in a test tube in the shelter and confines of a genetics laboratory in Rockville Md. engineered by renowned biologist Dr. Craig Venter.

The new species is a form of bacteria, and the announcement, which could come as early as Monday, is expected to provoke a substantial ethical debate about the manufacturing of life forms in a test tube, as well the dangers posed by introducing a new species. – The Guardian

Click here to read the full report in The Guardian.

Craig Venter, the genetics specialist who spearheaded the landmark breakthrough and heads the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Md., where the research was conducted, said the new species could lead to new energy sources and new methods for combating global warming.

“We are going from reading our genetic code to the ability to write it,” Venter told The Guardian. “That gives us the hypothetical ability to do things never contemplated before,” he said.

For example, the bacteria could be capable of absorbing carbon monoxide, a possible solution to global warming, Venter said.

According to The Guardian, a team of 20 elite scientists assembled by Venter at his institute has already constructed a synthetic chromosome from lab chemicals—also a landmark achievement. The man-made chromosome will be transplanted into an existing bacterial cell and is expected to take control of the cell. When the synthetic DNA takes over, the cell will be a new species.

While critics acknowledge that artificially manufactured life forms could lead to such positive developments as new drugs or treatments for disease, the potential dangers could be equally unlimited.

Folks… as a former microbiologist, I can tell you this is truly a double edged sword that in fact may be on par with the discovery of nuclear fission presenting the same social dichotomy. The knowledge can be used for good and/or evil. (Pardon the Garden of Eden slant, but one does have to wonder about that story!) Seems innocuous at first, but one mistake and life as we now know it could cease to exist on this planet in a matter of years not millennium. Pretty scary stuff. Especially when you wonder about keeping this knowledge sequestered from the “bad guys”!

Consider the following. As a species on this planet our developed intelligence might ironically actually be a genetic weakness that creates our downfall and possible extinction. Evolution may in fact be testing the survivability of the very concept of higher intelligence. The same intelligence that gives us the insight into engineering DNA, and the ability to split the atom and fuse hydrogen, over the long haul, may turn out to be a fatal genetic “flaw” within our species. Weird and pretty fatalistic, I know…. but it’s certainly a possibility. I would prefer to be an optimist, and generally I am, but when I look around, it’s clear there are still too many bone headed leaders and ignorant ideologies around that make me swallow hard after reading a story like this. — ZZ

From Jurrasic Park:

Dr. Ian Malcolm: Don’t you see the danger, John, inherent in what you’re doing here? Genetic power is the most awesome force the planet’s ever witnessed, yet you wield it like a kid that’s found his dad’s gun.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it’s that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, expands to new territory, and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously…Life finds a way…

Yes… Something to consider as this story unfolds in the coming weeks…

Posted by ZZ Bachman...

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