A genome with watermarks , names of 46 people , a website address and 3 quotations
- “TO LIVE, TO ERR, TO FALL, TO TRIUMPH, TO RECREATE LIFE OUT OF LIFE.” – JAMES JOYCE;
- “SEE THINGS NOT AS THEY ARE, BUT AS THEY MIGHT BE.”-A quote from the book, “American Prometheus”;
- “WHAT I CANNOT BUILD, I CANNOT UNDERSTAND.” – RICHARD FEYNMAN.
This is the synthetic DNA that Craig venter and his team developed in the J.CRAIG VENTER INSTITUTE(JCVI)after 15 years of extensive hard work and toil.the organism Mycoplasma mycoides is a self replicating synthetic organism whose DNA is synthetically prepared by a computer and then transplanted into the cell of a bacterium.
This breakthrough has evoked mixed responses from the scientific community.On one hand it will be easier to make vaccines in relatively less time and discover new vaccines for many disorders,and bring about solutions to various environmental issues,on the other hand there looms a threat of the discovery falling into the wrong hands and unfortunate events like bioterrorism and development of unknown new species of organisms developing.
here’s an excellent video of Craig Venter unveiling his work.
craig_venter_unveils_synthetic_life.html
post your comments about your opinion on the topic.
Recent Comments