the race to create "new life"

[painted wolf]

A number of small companies/universitys have come together to develop custom made life forms for industrial uses. Such things as the new bacteria that is designed to live on computer chips and serves as living transistors, and bacteria designed to eat pollution.

Another company, ProtoLife is taking this a step further and has the goal of making the first truely arificial life form from scratch. They hope that in the next few years develop a process to abiogenically create life in the lab with just a few chemicals.
Such 'alien' lifeforms would be not only useful for the study of early proto-cell evolution but they can be evolutionarily steered in directions to make them benificial to human industry. They could idealy be more useful than 'natural' bacteria as they can be directed to the function they are designed for from the very beginings of thier existance.

a couple of issues that this brings up...
1) is it 'moral' to work tword such a goal... to 'play god' as it were?
2) what will the anti-abiogenisis/ anti-evolution crowd do should they succeed?

check out :
http://134.147.93.66/bmcmyp/Data/PACE/Public

wa:do

 

[banzai79]

As far as number one goes...these scientists are creating tools, no more no less. Is it somehow more moral for me to pound a nail with a hammer then use bio-engineered bacteria to eat pollution? I think not. In either case I am using a man-made object to accomplish a particular goal. If it is perhaps the fact that the bacteria are alive that is the problem, consider that mankind has used mammals for millenia to provide transportation, food, power, et cetera. These mammals were also selectively bred to provide successive generations with animals more efficient at these purposes than their forebears, or in other words, they were genetically engineered, it simply took much longer with the available tools.

As far as number 2 goes I have no idea. Probably hoot and holler.

 

[Scorn]

#1- I see nothing wrong with it, although in a few billion years they might evolve into creatures who pray to a god named Eric or Monica or better yet - Protolife. Although I'd be wary of military applications in the short term.
#2-They should watchdog the entire process and instead of damning it out of ignorance learn to control it.

 

[LISA63]

A number of small companies/universitys have come together to intelligently design life forms for industrial uses.

Is it possible for life to be intelligently designed?

 

[painted wolf]

But they would be using ABIEOGENISIS to do it... so is abiogenisis really Intelligent Design now?

wa:do

 

[linwood]

1) is it 'moral' to work tword such a goal... to 'play god' as it were?

Yes it is
I for one will be happy to be rid of the ID threads once they`ve put it to rest.

2) what will the anti-abiogenisis/ anti-evolution crowd do should they succeed?

When/if these scientists make a breakthrough on the reproduction problem these ID/creationist proponents will begin screaming immorality as loud as they can.
they will then attempt to stop it through various legislative means and even perhaps succeed for awhile until all competent scientists in the field move to Sweden where they make this Earth shattering breakthrough to the benefit of a nation other than ours.

I`ve seen this a couple times before.



Great link PW, thanks.

 

[michel]

[PART QUOTE=painted wolf]A number of small companies/universitys have come together to develop custom made life forms for industrial uses. Such things as the new bacteria that is designed to live on computer chips and serves as living transistors, and bacteria designed to eat pollution.

wa:do[/QUOTE] You realize that with baterial Transistors, computers will inevitably mimic some functions of the human brain? bacteria designed to eat pollution - send some my way, we've got a lot of polution here!

 

[Jaymes]

I am more worried about what could go wrong... What if they evolve into something different than what they were created for when they are put on the market?

 

[painted wolf]

But Jensa, evolution is only a theory its not 'real'.... :biglaugh:

anyway, yup, that is the inharant nature of life. They will change and adapt if given the chance.
Unless science finds some way to prevent it, wich would be quite the trick.

wa:do

 

[Mister Emu]

But they would be using ABIEOGENISIS to do it... so is abiogenisis really Intelligent Design now?

When you "develop a process" is it truly abiogenisis anymore.

I for one will be happy to be rid of the ID threads once they`ve put it to rest.

Why would the ID threads dissappear?

I am more worried about what could go wrong... What if they evolve into something different than what they were created for when they are put on the market?

This is what would really scare me, if the bacteria somehow turned into a pathogen, and it is all in the air cleaning pollution, or we have millions of them in our computers...