Quoting from the article: "...he said it doesn’t represent the creation of a fully synthetic life form. Venter essentially transplanted a synthetic genome into a related organism, and found the genes functioned normally there."
They are referring to a segment of DNA, not an entire genome. Still, this is a fascinating subject. Remember the cloned sheep, "Dolly?" Turns out that these cloned creatures are not exact copies after all, and they develop health problems later on. There is a lot that goes on in genetic reactions that we do not understand. For example, genes can "correct" errors in transcription. It is almost as if the gene knows what it is supposed to look like, and if it does not look like that, it has limited abilities to restore the correct "grammar" as it were. Genetic manipulation is an inherently dangerous undertaking, because once a life form is unleashed into the environment, it cannot be recalled if there are unintended consequences. Some say that all genetic engineering does is to accelerate something that nature might do on its own. But that may not be entirely true. The cloning experiments provide a warning that there are potentially catastrophic consequences inherent in the field of genetic engineering. ------------------------------------------------------- On May 22, 3:47 pm, einseele <[email protected]> wrote: > For the first time scientists have manufactured DNA. > DNA since taken as a written sequence represents the biggest knowledge > revolution ever. > Scientist are able now, to "write" DNA. > > See it > athttp://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-21/life-form-created-with-ma... > > Expect as well the corresponding ethic storm. Regardless where are we > headed to, this is close to God's actions. And what code is about. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Epistemology" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/epistemology?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Epistemology" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/epistemology?hl=en.
