A team of US scientists has taken the next step in synthetically reproducing the blueprint of life, DNA. The effort has involved five years of research in perfecting new methods and techniques. The team at the J. Craig Venter Institute envisions potential remedies for illness and global warming. This is considered the second step in a three-step process to create a synthetic organism. The final stage will attempt to create a form of bacteria based purely on the synthetic genome. Initially, the nucleonic material will be placed in an established cell.
Whereas the human genome has some 30,000 genes, the scientists are targeting a synthetic sequence of just 580 genes. Yet if autopoietic processes can be established our notions on life may have to adapt. The tag will be "artificial life". But just what is artificial? Artificial vs. Spontaneous. Shaped vs. Created.
Helen Wallace, a spokesperson for GeneWatch UK, while acknowledging the technical feat, noted we are some way away from artificial life. Yet what remains is a type of genetic engineering that has the potential in the future to allow humans to make much bigger genetic changes.
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I guess the natural vs. synthetic distinction has always been a pragmatic one, since human beings themselves came into being right along with the rest of the natural world. Sounds like while the pragmatic distinction has been clear and obvious so far – with regard, say, to Tupperware vs. rocks – it’s apt to start getting blurry.
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