Scientists Create First Synthetic Life Form!

[Peter Lemkin]

A dangerous precedent! It is a 'bacteria' from which the original DNA was removed and replaced with totally human-constructed DNA. It replicates itself. Such could be constructed to do all kinds of good...and all kinds of harm and both types are likely to be environmental horrors if they get out of the laboratory. Brave New World; Horrible New World. As a Biologist and Environmentalist, I find this a horrible step forward, but on the BBC and other MSM they are singing the praises of this 'step forward' by we 'oh so smart humans'. :goodnight:

[Magda Hassan]

I'm with you Peter. This can only be a bad thing given the high levels of militarism and neo-fascist mentality in so many places these days. Even for those with the most altruistic of intentions it is a Pandora's box. I was listening to someone speak of this today but he was also very melancholy and dark about it.

[Peter Lemkin]

I'm with you Peter. This can only be a bad thing given the high levels of militarism and neo-fascist mentality in so many places these days. Even for those with the most altruistic of intentions it is a Pandora's box. I was listening to someone speak of this today but he was also very melancholy and dark about it.

What?!...you don't trust the Corporations and the bioweapons people....:hmmmm:

[Magda Hassan]

:bootyshake: :elefant::nurse:
No. Not that they don't have the well being of the nation at heart, of course. :musicus:Not. Power crazy Frankensteins with God complexes the lot of them.

[Carsten Wiethoff]

Here is the original article describing the creation of a "synthetic" organism:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/328/5981/958

A quote from there:

At the moment, the techniques employed by Venter's team are too difficult to appeal to any potential bioterrorists, researchers stress. Nonetheless, "this experiment will certainly reconfigure the ethical imagination," says Paul Rabinow, an anthropologist at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies synthetic biology. "Over the long term, the approach will be used to synthesize increasingly novel designed genomes," says Kenneth Oye, a social scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. "Right now, we are shooting in the dark as to what the long-term benefits and long-term risks will be."

[Magda Hassan]

Venter is the man behind it all apparently. Looks like he sees himself more as an 'entrepreneur' than a scientist, named an institute after himself too. Involved in the for profit corporate genome project. Here is his probably sanitized Wiki entry. He wants to sell 'his' products but now who has the big dollars to spend on it? The MIC. The only economy going at the moment. I wonder if he is a Mormon? Born is Salt Lake City, Utah. Studied under Nathan Kaplan who was on the Manhattan Project.

John Craig Venter (born October 14, 1946) is an American biologist, and entrepreneur, most famous for his role in sequencing one of the first human genomes.[1] Venter founded Celera Genomics, The Institute for Genomic Research and the J. Craig Venter Institute, now working at the latter to create synthetic biological organisms for environmental change and to document genetic diversity in the world's oceans. He was listed on Time Magazine's 2007 and 2008 Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.

Early life

Venter was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. In his youth, Venter did not take his education seriously, preferring to spend his time on the water in boats or surfing.[citation needed] According to his biography, A Life Decoded, he was said to be never a terribly engaged student, having Cs and Ds on his eighth grade report cards.[2][not specific enough to verify] According to Time Magazine, it was not always evident that Venter would become a transformative figure, particularly when he was a boy.[citation needed]
Although being against the Vietnam War,[citation needed] Venter was drafted and enlisted in the United States Navy where he worked in the intensive care ward of a field hospital. Being confronted with wounded, maimed, and dying soldiers on a daily basis instilled in him a desire to study medicine [3] —although later on he switched to scientific medical research.
Education

Venter graduated from Mills High School and began his college career at a community college, College of San Mateo in California. He received his B.S. degree in biochemistry in 1972, and his Ph.D. degree in physiology and pharmacology in 1975, both from the University of California, San Diego. At UCSD, he studied under biochemist Nathan O. Kaplan,[4] and married former Ph.D. candidate Barbara Rae.[5][not in citation given][6][not in citation given] After working as a professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo, he joined the National Institutes of Health in 1984. In Buffalo, he divorced Dr. Rae-Venter and married his student, Claire M. Fraser,[6] and remained married to her until 2005.[7]
Discovery

While at NIH, Venter learned of a technique for rapidly identifying all of the mRNAs present in a cell, and began to use it to identify human brain genes. The short cDNA sequence fragments discovered by this method are called expressed sequence tags (ESTs) a name coined by Anthony Kerlavage at The Institute for Genomic Research. The NIH initially lead an effort to patent these gene fragments, of which Venter coincidentally and controversially became involved.[8][improper synthesis?] The NIH later withdrew the patent applications after public outcry, and subsequent court cases declared that ESTs were not directly patentable.[9]
Human Genome Project

Venter was passionate about the power of genomics to radically transform healthcare. Venter believed that shotgun sequencing was the fastest and most effective way to get useful human genome data.[10] The method was controversial, however, since some geneticists felt it would not be accurate enough for a genome as complicated as the human.[11][not in citation given] Frustrated with what Venter viewed as the slow pace of progress in the Human Genome project, and unable to get funds for his ideas, he sought funding from the private sector to found Celera Genomics. The goal of the company was to sequence the entire human genome and release it into the public domain for non-commercial use in much less time and for much less cost than the public human genome project. The company planned to monetize their work by creating a value added database of genomic data that users could subscribe to for a fee. The goal consequently put pressure on the public genome program and spurred several groups to redouble their efforts to produce the full sequence. DNA from five demographically different individuals was used by Celera to generate the sequence of the human genome; one of them being Venter. In 2000, Venter and Francis Collins of the National Institute of Health and U.S. Public Genome Project jointly made the announcement of the mapping of the human genome in 2000, a full three years ahead of the expected end of the Public Genome Program. The announcement was made along with US President Bill Clinton, and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.[12] Venter and Collins thus shared an award for "Biography of the Year" from A&E Network.[13] Celera published the first Human Genome in the Journal Science, and was soon followed by a Human Genome Project Publication in Nature.[14][15] Despite some claims that shotgun sequencing was in some ways less accurate than the clone-by-clone method chosen by the Human Genome Project,[16] the technique became widely accepted by the scientific community and is still used today.
After completing the Human Genome, and releasing it into the public domain, Venter was fired by Celera in early 2002.[17] According to his biography, Venter was ready to leave Celera, and was fired due to conflict with the main investor, Tony White, that had existed since day one of the project. Venter writes that his main goal was always to accelerate science and thereby discovery, and he only sought help from the corporate world when he couldn't find funding in the public sector.
Current work

Venter is currently the president of the J. Craig Venter Institute, which conducts research in synthetic biology. In June 2005, he co-founded Synthetic Genomics, a firm dedicated to using modified microorganisms to produce clean fuels and biochemicals. In July 2009, ExxonMobil announced a $600 million collaboration with Synthetic Genomics to research and develop next-generation biofuels.[18] Venter used his sloop, Sorcerer II, in the Global Ocean Sampling Expedition to help assess genetic diversity in marine microbial communities.[19]
Media coverage


This section needs reorganization to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. There is good information here, but it is poorly organized; editors are encouraged to be bold and make changes to the overall structure to improve this article. (October 2009)
This "In popular culture" section may contain minor or trivial references. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture rather than simply listing appearances, and remove trivial references. (October 2009) Venter has been the subject of articles in several magazines, including Wired,[20] The Economist,[21] Australian science magazine Cosmos,[22][23] and The Atlantic.[24] Additionally, he was featured on The Colbert Report on both February 27, 2007, and October 30, 2007.
Venter appeared in the "Evolution" episode of the documentary television series Understanding.
On May 16, 2004, Venter gave the commencement speech at Boston University.[25]
In a 2007 interview with New Scientist when asked "Assuming you can make synthetic bacteria, what will you do with them?", Venter replied:

Over the next 20 years, synthetic genomics is going to become the standard for making anything. The chemical industry will depend on it. Hopefully, a large part of the energy industry will depend on it. We really need to find an alternative to taking carbon out of the ground, burning it, and putting it into the atmosphere. That is the single biggest contribution I could make.

Furthermore it suggests that one of the main purposes for creating synthetic bacteria would be to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels through bioremediation.[26]
On May 10, 2007, Venter was awarded an honorary doctorate from Arizona State University.[27] He was on the 2007 Time 100 most influential people in the world list made by Time magazine. In 2007 he also received the Golden Eurydice Award for contributions to Biophilosophy.
On September 4, 2007, a team led by Venter published the first complete (six-billion-letter) genome of an individual human — Venter's own DNA sequence.[28]
On BBC News on October 22, 2007, when asked about his religious view he replied that he thought that a true scientist could not believe in supernatural explanations.[not specific enough to verify]
On December 4, 2007, Venter gave the Dimbleby lecture for the BBC in London. He outlined his current work and future developments in genetics.
In February 2008, he gave a speech about his current work at the TED conference.[29]
Venter delivered the 2008 convocation speech for Faculty of Science honours and specialization students at the University of Alberta. A transcription of the speech is available here.[30]
Dr. Venter was featured in Time Magazine's "The Top 10 Everything of 2008" article. Number three in 2008's Top 10 Scientific Discoveries was a piece outlining his work stitching together the 582,000 base pairs necessary to invent the genetic information for a whole new bacterium.[31]
Dr. Venter took part in the inaugural San Diego Science Festival and spoke at its press conference on February 26, 2009.
On April 6, 2009, Venter gave a speech at Arizona State University as part of the Origins Symposium.
For an episode aired on July 27, 2009, Venter was interviewed on his boat by BBC One for the first episode of TV show Bang Goes the Theory.
Individual human genome sequenced

On September 4, 2007, a team led by Sam Levy published the first complete (six-billion-letter) genome of an individual human—Venter's own DNA sequence.[28] Some of the sequences in Venter's genome are associated with wet earwax,[32] increased risk of antisocial behavior, Alzheimer's and cardiovascular diseases.[33] This publication was especially interesting since it contained a diploid instead of a haploid genome and shows promise for personalized medicine via genotyping.[original research?]
The Human Reference Genome Browser (HuRef) is a Web application for the navigation and analysis of Venter's recently published genome. The HuRef database consists of approximately 32 million DNA reads sequenced using microfluidic Sanger sequencing, assembled into 4,528 scaffolds and 4.1 million DNA variations identified by genome analysis. These variants include single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), block substitutions, short and large indels, and structural variations like insertions, deletions, inversions[clarification needed] and copy number changes.
The browser enables scientists to navigate the HuRef genome assembly and sequence variations, and to compare it with the NCBI human build 36 assembly in the context of the NCBI and Ensembl annotations. The browser provides a comparative view between NCBI and HuRef consensus sequences, the sequence multi-alignment of the HuRef assembly, Ensembl and dbSNP annotations, HuRef variants, and the underlying variant evidence and functional analysis. The interface also represents the haplotype blocks from which diploid genome sequence can be inferred and the relation of variants to gene annotations. The display of variants and gene annotations are linked to external public resources including dbSNP, Ensembl, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) and Gene Ontology (GO).
Users can search the HuRef genome using HUGO gene names, Ensembl and dbSNP identifiers, HuRef contig or scaffold locations, or NCBI chromosome locations. Users can then easily and quickly browse any genomic region via the simple and intuitive pan and zoom controls; furthermore relevant data in specific loci can be exported for further analysis.
Mycoplasma laboratorium

Venter is seeking to patent the first life-form created by humanity, possibly to be named Mycoplasma laboratorium.[34] There is speculation that this line of research could lead to producing bacteria that have been engineered to perform specific reactions, e.g. produce fuels, make medicines, combat global warming, etc.[35]
In May 2010, a team of scientists led by Venter became the first to successfully create what was described as "synthetic life".[36][37] This was done by synthesizing a very long DNA molecule containing an entire bacterium genome, and introducing this into another cell. Other scientists have expressed skepticism about the practicality of this approach, which is a competitor to traditional genetic engineering methods, calling the research "'a technical tour de force' but not breakthrough science."[38]
Selected bibliography

Venter is an ISI highly cited researcher and has authored over 200 publications in scientific journals.[39]

• Fleischmann, Robert D.; Adams, Mark D.; White, Owen; Clayton, Rebecca; . . . Venter, J. Craig (July 28, 1995). "Whole-Genome Random Sequencing and Assembly of Haemophilus influenzae Rd.". Science (Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science) 269 (5223): 496–512. PMID 7542800.
  
• Tomb, Jean-F.; White, Owen; Kerlavage, Anthony R.; Clayton, Rebecca A.; Sutton, Granger G.; Fleischmann, Robert D.; . . . Venter, J. Craig (August 7, 1997). "The complete genome sequence of the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori". Nature (London, England: Nature Publishing Group) 388 (6642): 539–47. doi:10.1038/41483. PMID 9252185.
  
• Adams, Mark D.; Celniker, Susan E.; Holt, Robert A.; Evans, Cheryl A.; Goccayne, Jeannine A.; Amanatides, Peter G.; . . . Venter, J. Craig (March 24, 2000). "The genome sequence of Drosophila melanogaster". Science (Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science) 287 (5461): 2185–95. doi:10.1126/science.287.5461.2185.
  
• Venter, J. Craig; et al. (February 16, 2001). "The Sequence of the Human Genome". Science (journal) (Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science) 291 (5507): 1304–51. doi:10.1126/science.1058040. ISSN 0036-8075.
  
• Venter, J. Craig; Remington, Karin; Heidelberg, John F.; Halpern, Aaron L.; Rusch, Doug; Eisen, Jonathan A.; Wu, Dongying; Paulsen, Ian et al. (April 2, 2004). "Environmental Genome Shotgun Sequencing of the Sargasso Sea". Science (Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science) 304 (5667): 66–74. doi:10.1126/science.109385 (inactive 2010-05-20).
  
• Rusch, Donald B.; Halpern, Aaron L.; Sutton, Granger; Heidelberg, Karla B.; Williamson, Shannon; Yooseph, Shibu; Wu, Dongying; . . . Venter, J. Craig (March 13, 2007). "The Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling expedition: Northwest Atlantic through Eastern Tropical Pacific". PLoS Biology (Public Library of Science) 5 (3): 398–431. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050077.
  
• Yooseph, Shibu; Sutton, Granger; Rusch, Donald B.; Halpern, Aaron L.; Williamson, Shannon; Remington, Karin; Eisen, Jonathan A.; . . . Venter, J. Craig (March 13, 2007). "The Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling Expedition: Expanding the Universe of Protein Families". PLoS Biology (Public Library of Science) 5 (3): 432–466. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050016.
  
• Venter, J. Craig (October 18, 2007). A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life. New York, New York: Viking Adult. ISBN 0670063584.
  

See also

Evolutionary biology portal Molecular and cellular biology portal Biotechnology portal Marine life portal Nautical portal

• Full genome sequencing
  
• Genetic testing
  
• Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters
  
• Metagenomics
  
• Personal genomics
  
• Pharmacogenomics
  
• Predictive medicine
  

References

1. ^ Shreeve, Jamie (October 31, 2005). "The Blueprint Of Life". http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articl...genome.htm. Retrieved December 6, 2007.
   
2. ^ Time. February 4, 2008. "Venter attended Mills High School from Millbrae, CA".
   
3. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8695941.stm
   
4. ^ "Craig Venter Takes Aim at the Big Questions". ScienceWatch 8 (5). September/October 1997. http://archive.sciencewatch.com/sept-oct..._page3.htm. Retrieved June 7, 2009.
   
5. ^ Rae-Venter Law Group
   
6. ^ a b "The god of small things". The Sydney Morning Herald. January 26, 2007. http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/the-g...e=fullpage.
   
7. ^ Wadman, Meredith (May 2007). "High-profile departure ends genome institute's charmed run". Nature Medicine 13 (5): 518. doi:10.1038/nm1594. PMID 17479082.
   
8. ^ Roberts, Leslie (October 11, 1991). "Genome patent fight erupts: an NIH plan to patent thousands of random DNA sequences will discourage industrial investment and undercut the Genome Project itself, the plan's critics charge.". Science 254 (5029): 184–186. doi:10.1126/science.1925568.
   
9. ^ "Patent Law—Utility—Federal Circuit holds that expressed sequence tags lack substantial and specific utility unless underlying gene function is identified.—In re Fisher, 421 F.3d 1365 (Fed. Cir. 2005).". Harvard Law Review 119 (8): 2604–2611. 2006. http://www.harvardlawreview.org/issues/1...fisher.pdf.
   
10. ^ Weber, James L.; Myers, Eugene W. (1997). "Human Whole-Genome Shotgun Sequencing". Genome Research 7 (5): 401–409. doi:10.1101/gr.7.5.401 (inactive 2010-05-20). http://genome.cshlp.org/content/7/5/401.full.
    
11. ^ Green, Philip (1997). "Against a Whole-Genome Shotgun". Genome Research 7 (5): 410–417. doi:10.1101/gr.7.5.410 (inactive 2010-05-20). PMID 9149937. http://genome.cshlp.org/content/7/5/410.full.
    
12. ^ Shreeve, Jamie (October 31, 2005). "The Blueprint of Life". U.S. News and World Report. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articl...genome.htm. Retrieved January 30, 2007.
    
13. ^ "Montgomery County, Maryland Government (December 19, 2000). "Time Magazine Dubs Montgomery County "DNA Alley"". Press release. http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/mc/new...0-463.html. Retrieved January 30, 2007.
    
14. ^ Others, J. Craig; Adams, Mark D.; Myers, Eugene W.; Li, Peter W.; Mural, Richard J.; Sutton, Granger G.; Smith, Hamilton O.; Yandell, Mark et al. (2001). "The Sequence of the Human Genome". Science 291 (5507): 1304–1351. doi:10.1126/science.1058040. PMID 11181995.
    
15. ^ Others, E.S.; Linton, L.M.; Birren, B.; Nusbaum, C.; Zody, M.C.; Baldwin, J.; Devon, K.; Dewar, K. et al. (2001). "International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium (2001) Initial sequencing and analysis of the human …". Nature 409 (6822): 860–921. doi:10.1038/35057062. PMID 11237011.
    
16. ^ Olson, M.V. (2002). "The Human Genome Project: A Player's Perspective". Journal of Molecular Biology 319 (4): 931–942. doi:10.1016/S0022-2836(02)00333-9. PMID 12079320. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob...2540267ac6.
    
17. ^ Regalo, Antonio (July 24, 2005). "Maverick biologist at work on next goal: creating life". Seattle Times.
    
18. ^ "Exxon Sinks $600M Into Algae-Based Biofuels in Major Strategy Shift". NYTimes.com (New York Times). July 14, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/07/14/...33562.html.
    
19. ^ Larkman, Kirell (September 7, 2007). "Yacht for Sale: Suited for Sailing, Surfing, and Seaborne Metagenomics". GenomeWeb.com (GenomeWeb News).
    
20. ^ Shreeve, James. "Craig Venter's Epic Voyage to Redefine the Origin of the Species," Wired, August 2004. Accessed June 7, 2007.
    
21. ^ "The Journey of the Sorcerer", The Economist, December 4, 2004.
    
22. ^ First individual person's genome decoded - Cosmos Magazine. September 4, 2007.
    
23. ^ Geneticists on verge of creating artificial life - Cosmos Magazine. October 8, 2007.
    
24. ^ Douthat, Ross. "The God of Small Things," The Atlantic, Jan/Feb 2007.
    
25. ^ Warren, Jessica. April 30: Genome scientist to speak at Commencement, The Daily Free Press, April 28, 2004. Accessed August 2, 2008.
    
26. ^ Aldhous, Peter (2007). "Interview: DNA's messengers". New Scientist (2626): 57.
    
27. ^ Aufrett, Sarah. "ASU Celebrates Spring Graduates", ASU Insight, May 11, 2007. Accessed June 7, 2007.
    
28. ^ a b Levy S, Sutton G, Ng PC, Feuk L, Halpern AL, et al. (2007). "The Diploid Genome Sequence of an Individual Human". PLoS Biology 5 (10): e254. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050254. PMID 17803354. PMC 1964779. http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:...io.0050254.
    
29. ^ TED | Talks | Craig Venter: On the verge of creating synthetic life (video)
    
30. ^ Brown, M.: "Genomics leader accepts U of A honorary degree", "UofA ExpressNews"; retrieved on June 7, 2009.
    
31. ^ "The Top 10 Everything Of 2008". Time. November 3, 2008. http://www.time.com/time/specials/2008/t...47,00.html. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
    
32. ^ Omim - Ear Wax, Wet/Dry
    
33. ^ Venter, J.C. (2007). A Life Decoded. New York: Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-06358-1.
    
34. ^ Biologist Venter aims to create life from scratch
    
35. ^ Highfield, Roger (June 8, 2007). "Man-made microbe 'to create endless biofuel'". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1...ofuel.html. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
    
36. ^ . doi:10.1126/science.1190719 (inactive 2010-05-20). http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/ab...ce.1190719.
    
37. ^ "Scientists Create First Self-Replicating Synthetic Life". http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/0...etic-life/.
    
38. ^ Wade, Nicholas (May 20, 2010). "Researchers Say They Created a ‘Synthetic Cell’". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/science/21cell.html.
    
39. ^ "Venter, J. Craig" (restricted access). ISIHighlyCited.com. August 19, 2003. http://hcr3.isiknowledge.com/author.cgi?...lts&id=770. Retrieved October 17, 2009.
    

Further reading

• Ewing-Duncan, David (2006). Masterminds: Genius, DNA, and the Quest to Rewrite Life. New York, New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 9780007161843.
  
• Shreeve, James (2004). The Genome War: How Craig Venter Tried to Capture the Code of Life and Save the World. New York, New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0375406298.
  
• Spufford, Francis (2003). The Backroom Boys: The Secret Return of the British Boffin. London, England: Faber. ISBN 0571214975. [verification needed]
  
• Sulston, John (2002). The Common Thread: A Story of Science, Politics, Ethics and the Human Genome. Washington, DC, USA: Joseph Henry Press. ISBN 0309084091.
  

External links


This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive and inappropriate external links or by converting links into footnote references. (October 2009) Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Craig Venter Wikinews has related news: US scientist says he created first 'artificial life form'

• J. Craig Venter Institute
  
• Sorcerer II Expedition
  
• Synthetic Genomics
  
• The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR)
  
• HuRef
  
• Cracking the code to life
  

Media

• Craig Venter interview - Wired Science, December 2007 (video)
  
• Radio interview on Philosophy Talk
  
• Video of interview/discussion with Craig Venter by Carl Zimmer on Bloggingheads.tv
  
• Craig Venter: A voyage of DNA, genes and the sea - TED (Technology Entertainment Design) conference (video)
  
• Webcast of Venter talk 'Genomics: From humans to the environment' at The James Martin 21st Century School
  
• The Richard Dimbleby Lecture 2007 - Dr. J. Craig Venter - A DNA Driven World
  
• A short course on synthetic genomics. Edge Master Class 2009
  
• Craig Venter: On the Verge of Creating Synthetic Life - TED (Technology Entertainment Design) conference (video)
  

[Magda Hassan]

Has this been announced just in time to be of 'use' in the clean up of the BP crime scene in the Gulf of Mexico?
http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/the-g...e=fullpage

[Carsten Wiethoff]

There is a book on Craig Venter and the Human Genome Project that I can recommend (for non-experts).
"The Genome War" by James Shreeve, Amazon link here.
It covers some of the personalities and politics involved, and also some of the novel approaches used by Venter's company to sequence the human genome.

Once having developed the way from the Genome into data, the reverse becomes a goal nearly automatically. In my understanding this is basically what has been achieved now. Of course this opens the door for modifying the data or constructing data from scratch and then transforming that into a Genome.
The potential risks are enormous and the possibility of abuse is definitely there.

[Carsten Wiethoff]

Has this been announced just in time to be of 'use' in the clean up of the BP crime scene in the Gulf of Mexico?
http://www.smh.com.au/news/science/the-g...e=fullpage

No, Venter has been working on this for several years. I think his initial stated goal was to help reduce global warming and solve the energy crisis by designing a CO2 consuming bacterium producing fuel.
Small goals have never been his way.

[Paul Rigby]

I voted for one in the recent general election. Next minute - puff!! - the damn thing had morphed into a Tory. World, take heed of this cautionary tale.