Post by Enchant on Jun 12, 2007 8:29:53 GMT -5
Scientists working to build a life form from scratch have applied to patent the broad method they plan to use to create their "synthetic organism". Dr Craig Venter, the man who led the private sector effort to sequence the human genome, has been working for years to create a man-made organism. But constructing a primitive microbe from a kit of genes is a daunting task. Dr Venter says, eventually, these life forms could be designed to make biofuels and absorb greenhouse gases. The publication of the patent application has angered some environmentalists. The Canada-based ETC group, which monitors developments in biotechnology, called on patent offices to reject applications on synthetic life forms. The J Craig Venter Institute's US patent application claims exclusive ownership of a set of essential genes and a synthetic "free-living organism that can grow and replicate" made using those genes. It has also filed an international application at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) which names more than 100 countries where the institute may seek monopoly patents. Dr Venter's team intends to construct an organism with a "minimal genome" that can then be inserted into the shell of a bacterium.
By removing genes, one by one, from a bacterium called Mycoplasma genitalium they identified the minimum number of genes required for this particular organism to replicate, or reproduce, in its controlled environment. They have been able to remove 101 of its 482 genes without killing the bacterium, meaning that 381 were required for replication. But generating a man-made living organism from the bottom up requires much more than just its minimal genome.
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I can't help but wonder why....is it just a matter of mans wish to be a god? Each of those genes represents something and has a function....I would be afraid of what would be left. It is like something out of a scifi movie...doesn't anyone pay attention to them...they are like historical documents or what will be....
By removing genes, one by one, from a bacterium called Mycoplasma genitalium they identified the minimum number of genes required for this particular organism to replicate, or reproduce, in its controlled environment. They have been able to remove 101 of its 482 genes without killing the bacterium, meaning that 381 were required for replication. But generating a man-made living organism from the bottom up requires much more than just its minimal genome.
For Full Article.
I can't help but wonder why....is it just a matter of mans wish to be a god? Each of those genes represents something and has a function....I would be afraid of what would be left. It is like something out of a scifi movie...doesn't anyone pay attention to them...they are like historical documents or what will be....