Bacteria from Scratch

A team of Maryland scientists, led by J. Craig Venter, have constructed a complete DNA chromosome that carries all the necessary chemicals to sustain life. Using only bottled chemicals, they have been able to stitch together a DNA strand on the order of 580,076 base pairs.

The next step for these scientists is to inject their genetic instructions into a “blank” microbe and see if it will “boot up.” The group of scientists who built it removed the sections of code which enable the cell to be infectious, and they’ve also added extra code to “watermark” the cell as artificial. If this cell boots up, we will have created life entirely from chemicals.

The motivation behind synthetic life is supposedly to create renewable fuel that could substitute for oil. However, several critics and groups are questioning the morality of synthetic life, claiming that it could lead to microbes that get loose and wreak havoc on the environment.

I’m not sure how far God will let us explore the creation of synthetic life, but I don’t think we’ll ever be able to artificially produce a living organism with a human soul.