[QUOTE]Monday, May 24, 2010
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Inoculated as we are against surprise, a dubious gift of the internet and our information overloaded age, there are still things that are best heard sitting down with a stiff drink. The announcement last week by [URL=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/science.1190719]Gibson et al.[/URL] and the [URL=http://www.jcvi.org/]J. Craig Venter Institute[/URL] of the creation of 'artificial life' was indeed best heard this way.
The 'Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a Chemically Synthesized Genome' is a landmark work. So what did these guys do ? Put simply, they built complete genomes - stretches of circularly linked DNA of about 1.08 million nucleic acid base-pairs - according to the known blueprint of a real organism, the bacterium Mycoplasma mycoides. They then stuffed these genomes into the cells of another bacterium, that had been scraped clean of native DNA, and managed to get these new artificial-synthetic-hybrid organisms to multiply and function as if they were natural.
A number of things [URL=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/328/5981/958]stand out as remarkable[/URL] (apart from the estimated $40M price tag, which may make these the most valuable bacteria ever). The first is deceptively mundane. In publishing this result they also released a pretty complete 'read these instructions before attempting assembly' paper. Running to 29 pages it's a wee bit more complex than your typical flat-pack from IKEA, and probably a bit more frustrating, but here it is, a step-by-step guide to how to glue one thousand pre-made base sequences of 1080 base-pairs length together to make an organism. At first one's reaction is 'cool', then as it sinks in the questions begin.
What strikes me is how this is surely the ultimate nail in the coffin of the idea of [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitalism]'vitalism'[/URL]. That is the notion, harking back a couple of thousand years, that life is somehow imbued with a vital spark, is something more than the sum of the parts, is special. This experiment, to my mind, is saying nope, it's really quite ordinary. Stick the right molecules together in the right order, provide the right environment, and let it go. Now of course the blueprint was taken from nature, not designed (apart from the cheeky base-pair watermarks [URL=http://www.openculture.com/2010/05/james_joyce_encoded_in_artificial_life.html]quoting James Joyce[/URL] and providing email addresses, distinguishing the new bacteria). I think it'd be hard to argue though that there is something 'vital' about the design - a printable list of 1.08 million A's, T's, C's and G's. Of course life is still a remarkable phenomenon, and by the time you get to complex organisms like us it's increasingly difficult to peel away the layers to say that we're not 'special'. But this is an amazing and complex universe, apparently capable of assembling such intricate structures - given time and the right conditions. To paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke; any sufficiently complex phenomenon is indistinguishable from magic.
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Source: [url]http://lifeunbounded.blogspot.com/2010/05/artificial-life-some-assembly-required.html[/url]
Science is fucking awesome.
I think this is the third thread on this.
That's mind-blowing.
[QUOTE=Ban Evasion Alt;22147792]I think this is the third thread on this.[/QUOTE]
this one is a bit more in-depth but it needs repeating, We (for the most part) created Artificial Life.
Humans = God (if your so inclined to look at it that way.)
[QUOTE=Ban Evasion Alt;22147792]I think this is the third thread on this.[/QUOTE]
This one covers a few other things.
[QUOTE=goon165;22147922]this one is a bit more in-depth but it needs repeating, We (for the most part) created Artificial Life.
Humans = God (if your so inclined to look at it that way.)[/QUOTE]
We don't exist? Or if we do we don't care about our creations to respond to them in a way they'd find meaningful?
Well when you put it like that, yeah God is/was/could be a total Douche.
let's be better.
I created life in my refrigerator using nothing more then leftover Chinese food, and neglect.
It's a shame it's kind of put together from various bits of already-existant DNA - I wonder if they'll be able to make something completely and entirely synthetic?
Let's hope that whatever they make next doesn't turn on us and become a horribly deadly disease.
[QUOTE=robowurmz;22148140]It's a shame it's kind of put together from various bits of already-existant DNA - I wonder if they'll be able to make something completely and entirely synthetic?
Let's hope that whatever they make next doesn't turn on us and become a horribly deadly disease.[/QUOTE]
It is different. They added genetic "watermarks" to the DNA so they can identify the cell. It's technically a whole new species.
Also they made it so that it cannot survive outside the petri dish. Come to think of it, the petri dish is their "Eden".
[editline]07:41PM[/editline]
WE HAVE REACHED INTO THE DIRT AND CREATED NEW LIFE :science:
[QUOTE=robowurmz;22148140]It's a shame it's kind of put together from various bits of already-existant DNA - I wonder if they'll be able to make something completely and entirely synthetic?
Let's hope that whatever they make next doesn't turn on us and become a horribly deadly disease.[/QUOTE]
It doesn't matter. We put the pieces together according to a blueprint, this was just a proof that we could put the pieces together and have them work. And it does work, of course.
[editline]06:58PM[/editline]
[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;22148495]It is different. They added genetic "watermarks" to the DNA so they can identify the cell. It's technically a whole new species.
Also they made it so that it cannot survive outside the petri dish. Come to think of it, the petri dish is their "Eden".
[editline]07:41PM[/editline]
WE HAVE REACHED INTO THE DIRT AND CREATED NEW LIFE :science:[/QUOTE]
Really small, stupid life.
Let's make Shoggoths! :buddy:
we should combine the dna of a human, shark, tiger, leopard, elephant and an eagle.
[QUOTE=decilling;22149501]we should combine the dna of a human, shark, tiger, leopard, elephant and an eagle.[/QUOTE]
What you described is a human-animal hybrid.
Basically you would make furries real.
Cons: … Is that a ten feet tall cat dude walking around the mall with his dick hanging out? Ewww :ohdear:
Pros: Tiger women. I'm serious.
cons: it's not possible.
[QUOTE=sp00ks;22149934]cons: it's not possible.[/QUOTE]
If it was impossible to change DNA we would still be single cell autotrophs.
It can be done, It's just got some unforeseeable consequences.
[QUOTE=bravehat;22149960]If it was impossible to change DNA we would still be single cell autotrophs.
It can be done, It's just got some unforeseeable consequences.[/QUOTE]
That and the people who claim it's "lol unethical YOU AM PLAY GODxD".
Fuck their shit.
Oh and human-animal chimeras are illegal beyond reason in most countries, so the lab would have to be set up in international waters. We could also set up a side lab for OvB's oceanography stuff.
If any country is going to produce them, it's France. Seriously, has anyone seen the Orangina commercial? :ohdear:
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;22150080]
Oh and human-animal chimeras are illegal beyond reason in most countries, so the lab would have to be set up in international waters.[/QUOTE]
I know a Place.
[img]http://mythosblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/half-life-2-episode-two-borealis-artwork.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;22150080]That and the people who claim it's "lol unethical YOU AM PLAY GODxD".
Fuck their shit.
Oh and human-animal chimeras are illegal beyond reason in most countries, so the lab would have to be set up in international waters. We could also set up a side lab for OvB's oceanography stuff.
If any country is going to produce them, it's France. Seriously, has anyone seen the Orangina commercial? :ohdear:[/QUOTE]
Chimira's are pointless, We're better taking the genetic and metabolic advantages of another animal species, and combining with it nano particles that are capable of defending against cancers and other health problems.
Or if we could combine the two and create an organ that secretes an incredibly effective clotting agent.
[QUOTE=bravehat;22150500]Chimira's are pointless, We're better taking the genetic and metabolic advantages of another animal species, and combining with it nano particles that are capable of defending against cancers and other health problems.
Or if we could combine the two and create an organ that secretes an incredibly effective clotting agent.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. Too much money just to please someone's fetish.
Oh you know someone will do it, if it can be done, then rule 34 will be applied by someone soon.
...oh god IRL rule 34 :ohdear:
First they will claim "provolution":
"We're modofying the genes of sharks, mixing them with human DNA to evolve their intelligence."
What is actually happening: Billions of dollars of research wasted on shark women for an interspecies prostitution business started by one of the scientists, that will attract millions of xenophiles from all over the world.
After ten years: I HAVE SO MUCH MONEY JESUS CHRIST SO MUCH MONEY I'M SCROODGE FUCKING MCDUCK
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;22151148]First they will claim "provolution":
"We're modofying the genes of sharks, mixing them with human DNA to evolve their intelligence."
What is actually happening: Billions of dollars of research wasted on shark women for an interspecies prostitution business started by one of the scientists, that will attract millions of xenophiles from all over the world.
After ten years: I HAVE SO MUCH MONEY JESUS CHRIST SO MUCH MONEY I'M SCROODGE FUCKING MCDUCK[/QUOTE]
Yeah but dude, we should be assimilating shark DNA into our DNA, they have the immune system of poseidon
[QUOTE=bravehat;22151498]Yeah but dude, we should be assimilating shark DNA into our DNA, they have the immune system of poseidon[/QUOTE]
plus they keep regrowing their teeth, anyone who does meth is going to want this.
I'd like to read through their guide once it's published. Could be interesting.
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