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Lab-made genome gives new life to ethics debate

If you thought that designing life was the sole domain of nature or a divine power – think again.

A team of U.S. scientists is reporting that it has constructed the genome of a living organism for the first time. Assembling bits of lab-made DNA, researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Maryland say they have built the genetic structure of a bacterium from scratch in the lab.

The feat marks an historic, and controversial, milestone in the fledgling field known as synthetic biology. It uses chunks of synthetic DNA like Lego blocks, with an aim to creating life forms that can be genetically programmed to perform useful tasks.

Its proponents envision making micro-organisms that gobble up pollution, produce hard-to-make drugs, pump out clean energy, or, at the whimsical end, flowers designed to bloom on your birthday.

This is what you get when you leave your

This website shows the thoughts of leading thinkers about things that changed their minds. I read a few of the articles, and they really are very very very interesting.. Highly interesting discoveries and thoughts explained by the world’s smartest and thoughtful persons… great.

“They
are the intellectual elite, the brains the rest of us rely on to
make sense of the universe and answer the big questions. But in
a refreshing show of new year humility, the world’s best thinkers
have admitted that from time to time even they are forced to change
their minds.” — James
Randerson, The Guardian

“A
remarkable feast of the intellect… an amazing group of reflections
on science, culture, and the evolution of ideas. Reading the Edge
question is like being invited to dinner with some of the most
interesting people on the planet.” — Tim
O’Reilly, O’Reilly Radar