A group of scientists wants to create life from scratch. Interesting read. Brings up lots of things to debate: should we do this? Are we mimiking nature or God? If God didn't want us to do something like this, would he not have given us the ability?
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/medicine/article/0,20967,1014147,00.htmlSnipit:
Flipping though slides thick with chemical equations, Chen explains how Rasmussen’s team of chemists and physicists, who are gathered together here for the first time, will build their bug. They aren’t going to simply transform an existing organism by tweaking its DNA. No, Chen explains, they’re going to create their being from scratch, literally breathing life into a beaker full of inanimate molecules. It is a Frankensteinian vision—though, granted, one that will unfold on the nano scale. The team’s “protocell” will be thousands of times as small as a typical bacterium and far more primitive. But if all goes as planned, it will possess the defining characteristics of life: It will spawn offspring, generate its own energy, even evolve. Left unspoken was this: If Rasmussen, who first started contemplating protocells seven years ago, and his colleagues succeed, they will have crossed a threshold, bestowing on humankind powers that now belong exclusively to nature (or to God, depending on your beliefs).
Sorry if it's a dupe :)
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
