Genetic engineers have announced that they have created a living organism with synthetic DNA sequencing. The good/bad news scenario was created by the fact that scientists created a so called life form from scratch. DNA sequencing might lead to new fuels, drugs, vaccines, and even possibly sources of food. It also leads some to imagine thriller scenarios like killer germs in the hands of state-sponsored bioterrorists. A warning about synthetic DNA has also been issued by the Catholic church to scientists.
From scratch, synthetic genome sequencing
This synthetic sequencing is a result of $ 40 million in investments and 15 years of work by the J. Craig Venter Institute. As reported Friday in the journal Science, genetic engineers succeeded for the first time in making a copy of a bacterium’s entire genome. The genome was then put into a different bacteria that was emptied of its own genome. Once the DNA assimilated, the recipient bacteria began to reproduce in the same manner as the naturally occurring bacteria from which the synthetic DNA was copied.
Gluing together all of the genetic code
Computer designed synthetic bacteria have fueled curiosity for years with the promise of a big pay day from cheap, efficient production of custom fuels, enzymes, and medications. The Christian Science Monitor reports that to create the synthetic DNA, scientists at J. Craig Venter Institute used yeast to glue together thousands of DNA snippets. With painstaking microscopic precision, the strands of genetic code were to come together in runs of tens of thousands of base pairs, and then hundreds of thousands, until the yeast produced a very complete 1.08 million-base-pair synthetic genome.
Controversies with genetic engineering
Genetic engineering of synthetic DNA, if perfected, promises exciting technological benefits. It also will attract government regulation and fear. Bloomberg reports that many bio-scientists warn that genetic engineering companies like the J. Craig Venter Institute that can manufacture synthetic DNA should watch their backs. Speaking about the way the J. Craig Venter Institute coordinated efforts with other laboratories to cook up the genome, James Collins, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute-supported bioengineer at Boston University, told Bloomberg that “They sent out chunks of the genetic code to companies and asked them each to synthesize parts of it,” Collins said. “You don’t want bad guys to order 10 parts of a nasty virus from 10 different groups and then put them together.”
Synthetic DNA scares Catholic Church
The Catholic Church has given their opinion on the issue. Catholic Church officials said Friday that the recently created first synthetic cell could be a positive development if correctly used, but warned scientists that only God can create life as reported by the Associated Press. Bishop Domenico Mogavero, expressed concern that scientists might be tempted to play God. ”Pretending to be God and parroting his power of creation is an enormous risk that can plunge men into a barbarity,” Mogavero said in an interview with La Stampa. Scientists “should never forget that there is only one creator: God.”
Additional information at these websites
Science
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/science.1190719
The Christian Science Monitor reports
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0521/J.-Craig-Venter-Institute-creates-first-synthetic-life-form
Bloomberg reports
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0521/J.-Craig-Venter-Institute-creates-first-synthetic-life-form
