Kevin The Herbivore.

[Raven]

I do believe you were the one going into the field of microbiology. If not, my apologies this isn't actually addressed to you. I was curious as to your opinion on J. Craig Venter's current goal of creating an organism. Since this organism would fall under your realm of study, I figured you would be watching it closely. And as I I should actually be doing myself. And if you have heard anything new about the project, I would be ecstatic if you would share it with me. This is also for anyone who wishes to place there thoughts in on creating a new organism;i.e. ethical issues, simple opinions, ect.

[theapportioner]

I'd be shocked if he were going into microbio.

Venter loves to promote himself, but what his group is trying to do isn't really that remarkable. People have been adding and deleting genes for many years now, and he wants to delete a few more from a preexisting organism. Hardly "creating life from scratch". More likely than not, they'll have to go through many iterations to create something that can actually survive decently.

[The_Rorschach]

Heheh the capability Gene-Tailoring has been around for almost a decade, and much longer than that in theory.

Actually there was an interesting insight into how such techniques are being used in this month's Popular Mechanics. A scientist, whose name was not important enough for me to remember sadly, has constructed a mosquito with a synthetic "selfish gene" which, when mating with mosqitoes sharing that same "selfish gene" it result in failed offspring incapable of supporting life. The Gene has been designed to replicate itself regardless of the sex of the carrier into the product of any mating. The man who designed it wished to kill malaria harbouring mosqutioes through out Africa, which could be done within a year if he can release 1% of the total mosquitoes worth of infect larvae on the continent.

I almost smile when I consider the possible translation of that research into biological agents. Virtually any species on earth could be killed in such a fashion, by anyone with the capital and the interest.

[Preechr]

Based on just that, I think I like you.

You kinda have to smile, don't you?

[KevinTheOmnivore]

I do believe you were the one going into the field of microbiology. If not, my apologies this isn't actually addressed to you.

Nope, not me.

[AChimp]

Hmm... I heard somewhere that they once created a virus that would attack the Y chromosome in rabbits, thus crippling their ability to breed within a few generations; a kind of population control.

But then they realized how easy it would be to turn it into a weapon, and they voluntarily destroyed their work. Not sure if it's true, though... it sounds more like a biology/genetics urban legend.

[Helm]

Scientists never destroy their work.

[Raven]

Sometimes scientists destroy their work. It truly depends on the scientist. I would never destroy my work. But I would prevent it from entering the hands of the irresponsible;i.e. humanity; if I believed it was far to destructive to exist.

I was also under the impression that Venter was actually creating an organism from scratch. As the organism is supposed to only have approximately 300 genes. If I am in fact wrong, than I am rather disappointed in Venter. While I do agree that Venter is a self-promoter and far from the level of intelligence that many would probably give him credit for. But I also recognize an imagination, and an ability to assemble a team with exceptional abilities at achieving his goals.

[Raven]

Went through the abortion thread to find out who was the one in microbiology, and discovered that it was Baalzamon. My apologies for the mix up.

[pjalne]

If we really managed to create life from scratch, wouldn't that tell us a lot about potential extraterrestial life? I mean, if the new organism develops reproduction information similar to 'ordinary' DNA, wouldn't that give us a certain reference for how life could potentially evolve on planets similar to our own? One of the big debates concerning alien life forms is whether they are likely to develop similar shapes to what we're used to seeing or go in a totally different direction. I know other factors have to be considered, but... Well, a though anyway.

[AChimp]

They've already shown that it's possible to to create basic amino acids in a lab mimicing conditions on Earth 4 billion years ago, and they've also shown that many of the required chemicals can be found in meteorites.

[VinceZeb]

The metorites possess only half of the components needed. The other half has only been seen in humans, I believe.

And there are some flaws with the whole "testtube lightning" deal. Give me the doctors name and I tell you the information.

[AChimp]

Vinth, we're talking about life in general, not just humans. Please, read the thread before posting.

How about you just post your list of flaws right from the start rather than dancing around saying, "Oooh! Ooh! I know something that disproves what you said, but you have to find it!"

[VinceZeb]

All I need is the name of the doctor. I'd rather not look through the entire book I have on these subjects when I can just look for the Dr.'s name.

[AChimp]

There isn't any one specific scientist. Many have done similar experiments. NASA created various amino acids in deep space conditions a few years ago, and others have achieved the same by zapping stuff with electricity or applying thousands of degrees of heat.