Artificial life (General)

by David Turell , Friday, May 21, 2010, 14:36 (5112 days ago) @ dhw


> This might seem to be the sort of breakthrough that Matt has been hoping for, though perhaps our scientists can explain to me how an organism based on an existing bacterium can be described as "creating artificial life". -Good for you! Starting with life's cells and then creating artificial life by using scientific intelligence proves nothing, except to make life intelligence is required.-
> 
> The result is a new species, and Venter calls it synthetic because "it survives thanks to a manmade genome." Again, that seems to me a long way from the claim that he has created artificial life. All the same, I'd be interested to know how significant everyone thinks this breakthrough is from a scientific, philosophical, and moral point of view. -Again you are exactly right. My comment above remains on point. Morally, as long as he doesn't create his own child, I'm not concerned.->
>Meanwhile, according to the article, it's the commercial point of view that comes uppermost for Venter, as he is setting out to create organisms that are not only new, but also lucrative. A deal with ExxonMobil is potentially worth trillions of dollars.-Great! Let's hope he makes Gulf- Oil eating bacteria.