Submitter, please RTFA before submitting. Thank you, that is all.

A Dr. Victor Fronkensteen on line 2 for you, sir

An important step



It's a doozy.

This will be a trillion dollar industry

I think subby is getting the FA confused with his girlfriend

I thought it would just be assumed that everybody would know that we aren't even close yet to constructing some kind of synthetic life from scratch. The Fark science headlines like this always lead to some crappy, much less exciting "advance".


/not the subby

Oh good, let's be sure to test it out so if we end up needing to kill it, we can...



/Loved that game
//The sequels on the other hand...

I'm calling Shinananigians

nowhere in the article is a jar of peanut butter mentioned.

From TFA: The group hopes eventually to use engineered genomes to make organisms that can produce clean fuels and take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Pfft. I won't be impressed until they can splice pig and elephant DNA.

/Haven't you ever heard that song by Loverboy?
//Pig and elephant DNA just won't splice!

Subby, RTFA.

"The researchers ended up with several large chunks of DNA that were joined to make the circular genome of a synthetic version of Mycoplasma genitalium"

Mycoplasma genitalium?? Gods, I hope they know what they're doing...

grow synthetic life?

buy a brick o' cheese and leave it in the fridge for a year.

/duh...

I don't think that any of the bible thumpers will have any problem with any of this sort of research because genetics can not exist and the ability of man to create any form of life is impossible; therefore they will all think this sort of thing is some sort of fairy tale to scare them.

Just pat them on the head and tell them to go learn "real" science from Bob Jones or Regency. Maybe Kansas or some other third world, middle America hick-state can teach them about real old rocks and how Moses rode dinosaurs. As they happily give all their money to big hair people.

Only one word can describe this: cool.

DOES NOT WANT

Here come the pigoons...

Nothing could possibly go wrong....

Mwaaahahahaha

And just look how happy they are!

But this interferes with God's plan!

A plan we admit we cannot know.

Damn.

Not gonna happen, no matter how much money is spent.

Scientists can create apples that taste like grapes and engineer corn that is bigger and more disease resistant, but they will never be able to create life, or even something small and simple like a seed.

Sumo Surfer: Not gonna happen, no matter how much money is spent.

Scientists can create apples that taste like grapes and engineer corn that is bigger and more disease resistant, but they will never be able to create life, or even something small and simple like a seed.

Smells.. like..

I have a girlfriend who is working on a PhD in molecular biology. She was working on a project for a forensics lab where they would take partial or damaged DNA samples and try to reconstruct the sequence to get a valid sample in order to identify the individual. It was awesome.

After that, she worked briefly in a lab where similar methods were used to grow bacteria - then they tried to mutate it into something harmless or even beneficial. Equally awesome. My favorite part of that was when I got to go in and place some bacteria in a petrie dish and into an incubator.

She now works in a cancer research center where they are trying to find a way to alter the molecular structure of cancer to either make it benign or cause it to basically eat itself. If they figure it out, the cure for cancer will be cancer!

I'm very jealous of this girl!

"The group hopes eventually to use engineered genomes to make organisms that can produce clean fuels and take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere."

This idea is phenominal! Imagine being able to remove the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. If only nature would catch up with us mere mortals and our ideas!!!!!

What?..... Oh, well, lets pretend for now that trees don't exist.

horsecore: grow synthetic life?

buy a brick o' cheese and leave it in the fridge for a year.

/duh...

Behind the fridge is faster.

kellynoel: She now works in a cancer research center where they are trying to find a way to alter the molecular structure of cancer to either make it benign or cause it to basically eat itself. If they figure it out, the cure for cancer will be cancer!

I'm very jealous of this girl!

See squishy2's reply...

/ mutants FTW
// seriously though, if these scientists can engineer bacteria that will solve our greenhouse problems, or produce clean energy... more power to them!

I thought it said synthetic wife

Fortunately, this just means that the IDer's will have to reshuffle the goalposts for what they mean by "intelligent designers".

Impudent Domain: I thought it said synthetic wife

Synthetic Wife?

Impudent Domain: I thought it said synthetic wife

Just go to Miami or LA and you will find plenty of those.

Sumo Surfer:
Scientists can create apples that taste like grapes and engineer corn that is bigger and more disease resistant, but they will never be able to create life, or even something small and simple like a seed.

Actually, Francis, however mindboggling it may seem to us now, we must bear in mind that the aoutopoiesis and biogenesis - as opposed to medicine and biology - are probably among the most recent branches of science out there. So unless you have some moral or religious aversion to it, I wouldn't be quite so pessimistic.

TFA is about creating a chromosome. Your reaction: "Meh." A more reasonable reaction would be: "HOLY FARKING SHAIT!!!" Just the other day we were trying to sequence the human genome. Here we have a dude who's gone ahead and farking BUILT one. Granted, the DNA of a bacterium is a far cry from that of a human, but still ... Kudos are due here, I believe.

Rockville is a smarmy little town.

(Don't go back to) Rockville

biobot: TFA is about creating a chromosome.

Hasn't that been possible for quite a while ?

I'm not sure I entirely grasp what they're up to, but it appears to be the equivalent of writing a new OS then having it claimed that you have built a PC from scratch. Impressive, yes, but not quite the same.

I prefer the term 'Artificial Person' myself.

Suck it, punks! Kneel before Zod!

/molecular biologist

kellynoel:
My favorite part of that was when I got to go in and place some bacteria in a petrie dish and into an incubator.

Ah a classic task for visiting friends and SO's (when the supervisor isn't looking). Glad you had fun!

It's only a matter of time........

kellynoel: I have a girlfriend who is working on a PhD in molecular biology. She was working on a project for a forensics lab where they would take partial or damaged DNA samples and try to reconstruct the sequence to get a valid sample in order to identify the individual. It was awesome.

After that, she worked briefly in a lab where similar methods were used to grow bacteria - then they tried to mutate it into something harmless or even beneficial. Equally awesome. My favorite part of that was when I got to go in and place some bacteria in a petrie dish and into an incubator.

She now works in a cancer research center where they are trying to find a way to alter the molecular structure of cancer to either make it benign or cause it to basically eat itself. If they figure it out, the cure for cancer will be cancer!

I'm very jealous of this girl!

And I'm very jealous of you!

/Brainy is sexy.

FarkinNortherner: biobot: TFA is about creating a chromosome.

Hasn't that been possible for quite a while ?

I don't know. I don't think so.

I'm not sure I entirely grasp what they're up to, but it appears to be the equivalent of writing a new OS then having it claimed that you have built a PC from scratch. Impressive, yes, but not quite the same.

Hmm. Not really. The only person claiming that they built the PC from scratch is subby, and he/she has been sufficiently lambasted for this above. What these guys have sone is made a synthetic copy of the original. Like what the Chinese have done to Rolex. They haven't built an OS, or a PC. They have built/copied a (very small and simple) microprocessor. From scratch. I think. I don't really know enough about both subjects to make an accurate analogy, but there you go.

No picture of Bishop? ...

I, for one, look forward to the day when scientists truly create life. Then creationism will be proven beyond all doubt!

Building a bactira that removes Carbon Dioxide from the Air-----UMMMM don't we have things much larger then this that perform the same function Called Trees---What the Fark maybe if we didn't kill all the natural things that were here already we would need to play Mad Scientist and create something that could GO unchecked in nature and psossibly be the death of Us all. But what do I know.

its more like they built the PC, and claimed to have created the OS, but, not really.

If they do manage to spark the thing to "life" which at this stage means after inserting the chromosome into a bacterium, the bacterium will replicate the assembled chromosome and use it.

in any case, the IDs will claim its not really intelligent design because it's not a human, and then the conservative politico's will vote with the religious right to ban any further research as being "unethical"

When I grow up, I want to create artificial life!

Yeah...about that cancer eating cancer...Will Smith would like to have a word with your girlfriend.

And a shotgun. A word and a shotgun with your girlfriend.

biobot: Hmm. Not really. The only person claiming that they built the PC from scratch is subby, and he/she has been sufficiently lambasted for this above. What these guys have sone is made a synthetic copy of the original. Like what the Chinese have done to Rolex. They haven't built an OS, or a PC. They have built/copied a (very small and simple) microprocessor. From scratch. I think. I don't really know enough about both subjects to make an accurate analogy, but there you go.

Which really in and of itself is a good step. Building a replica to the best of your knowledge and available parts is one of the steps in reverse engineering something to the point that you can build everything from scratch.

biobot: Hmm. Not really. The only person claiming that they built the PC from scratch is subby, and he/she has been sufficiently lambasted for this above. What these guys have sone is made a synthetic copy of the original. Like what the Chinese have done to Rolex. They haven't built an OS, or a PC. They have built/copied a (very small and simple) microprocessor. From scratch. I think. I don't really know enough about both subjects to make an accurate analogy, but there you go.

The OS example probably works better; DNA is more like software than hardware. To use the computer analogy, they analyzed the "operating system" of the bacteria (probably several similar operating systems as well) and determined which parts are absolutely essential and which aren't. Then using that information, they built a new, minimal OS from the bottom up using modified chunks of code from the original (gene cassettes). The next step is to install it on a barebones computer, which contrary to TFA, isn't difficult (theoretically) compared to the work they've already done. The goal is to have a minimally functional bacterium to which you could add on your own custom-designed cassettes so the bacteria will do exactly what you want them to do (e.g. synthesize a drug) and nothing else (e.g. kill people).

As for why they're using M. genitalium, it's probably because it has a relatively small, simple genome (580kb) which is a lot easier to work with than something like E. coli (4.6Mb).

Life is manifesting "as if by chance" everywhere in myriad forms all the time. Does it not strike one as strange that something occurring "randomly" through the medium of a disinterested nature, cannot be synthesized by the applied wisdom of the worlds greatest scientists?

Methinks they are missing something. A non-material component.



Typical moran scientist

Cromar: Yeah...about that cancer eating cancer...Will Smith would like to have a word with your girlfriend.

And a shotgun. A word and a shotgun with your girlfriend.

yeah.... right... um, Will Smith is an actor. You do know that, eh?

Movies are not real life, sorry.

Meh. They did this a few years ago with a virus genome. Old news. The only twist is they are using a larger genome.

If you want to impress me, do it with Zea mays (corn, huge genome, lots of transposons and other fun stuff).