[tt] Guardian: (Venter) I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer

[Premise Checker]

I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/oct/06/genetics.climatechange/print
7.10.6
[Thanks to Sarah for this.]


· Scientist has made synthetic chromosome
· Breakthrough could combat global warming
   * Ed Pilkington in New York

Craig Venter, the controversial DNA researcher involved in the race
to decipher the human genetic code, has built a synthetic
chromosome out of laboratory chemicals and is poised to announce
the creation of the first new artificial life form on Earth.

The announcement, which is expected within weeks and could come as
early as Monday at the annual meeting of his scientific institute
in San Diego, California, will herald a giant leap forward in the
development of designer genomes. It is certain to provoke heated
debate about the ethics of creating new species and could unlock
the door to new energy sources and techniques to combat global
warming.

Mr Venter told the Guardian he thought this landmark would be "a
very important philosophical step in the history of our species. We
are going from reading our genetic code to the ability to write it.
That gives us the hypothetical ability to do things never
contemplated before".

The Guardian can reveal that a team of 20 top scientists assembled
by Mr Venter, led by the Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith, has already
constructed a synthetic chromosome, a feat of virtuoso
bio-engineering never previously achieved. Using lab-made
chemicals, they have painstakingly stitched together a chromosome
that is 381 genes long and contains 580,000 base pairs of genetic
code.

The DNA sequence is based on the bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium
which the team pared down to the bare essentials needed to support
life, removing a fifth of its genetic make-up. The wholly
synthetically reconstructed chromosome, which the team have
christened Mycoplasma laboratorium, has been watermarked with inks
for easy recognition.

It is then transplanted into a living bacterial cell and in the
final stage of the process it is expected to take control of the
cell and in effect become a new life form. The team of scientists
has already successfully transplanted the genome of one type of
bacterium into the cell of another, effectively changing the cell's
species. Mr Venter said he was "100% confident" the same technique
would work for the artificially created chromosome.

The new life form will depend for its ability to replicate itself
and metabolise on the molecular machinery of the cell into which it
has been injected, and in that sense it will not be a wholly
synthetic life form. However, its DNA will be artificial, and it is
the DNA that controls the cell and is credited with being the
building block of life.

Mr Venter said he had carried out an ethical review before
completing the experiment. "We feel that this is good science," he
said. He has further heightened the controversy surrounding his
potential breakthrough by applying for a patent for the synthetic
bacterium.

Pat Mooney, director of a Canadian bioethics organisation, ETC
group, said the move was an enormous challenge to society to debate
the risks involved. "Governments, and society in general, is way
behind the ball. This is a wake-up call - what does it mean to
create new life forms in a test-tube?"

He said Mr Venter was creating a "chassis on which you could build
almost anything. It could be a contribution to humanity such as new
drugs or a huge threat to humanity such as bio-weapons".

Mr Venter believes designer genomes have enormous positive
potential if properly regulated. In the long-term, he hopes they
could lead to alternative energy sources previously unthinkable.
Bacteria could be created, he speculates, that could help mop up
excessive carbon dioxide, thus contributing to the solution to
global warming, or produce fuels such as butane or propane made
entirely from sugar.

"We are not afraid to take on things that are important just
because they stimulate thinking," he said. "We are dealing in big
ideas. We are trying to create a new value system for life. When
dealing at this scale, you can't expect everybody to be happy."