"Scientists Reach Milestone On Way To Artificial Life"

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127010591

Scientists are reporting that they have made a living cell from DNA that was originally synthesized in a lab. This isn't quite a synthetic organism. But the result is an important, and some would say troubling, step on the road to creating life in the lab.

Venter and his team have been working to create a synthetic cell since 1995. The idea is to use the four chemical constituents of DNA — named A, T, C and G — to put together a synthetic genome. Then they would put that synthetic genome into a cell, and have it direct the cell as it grew and multiplied. Now they've succeeded.

Kaebnick says there are two basic concerns about what Venter and others in the new field of synthetic biology are doing. First, that one of these synthetic organisms will escape from the lab and run amok. And the other is whether this kind of work crosses a line where humans start playing God.

"We decided that [by] writing new biological software and creating new species, we could create new species to do what we want them to do, not what they evolved to do," says Venter.

So this is how humanity's going to die off.
Good to know

"don't ya get it now, we're all fucked."

What could POSSIBLY go wrong?!?

Two words: Real Pokemon.

Rayel wrote:What could POSSIBLY go wrong?!?

GOD DAMNIT

You aren't supposed to say that...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong

It is the best question!

Good things:
-Superpowers
-Pokemon
-Cow bacon
Bad things
-engineering of compliant citizens
-mass production of slaves
-mole-men
The way I see it, the bad list already exists, so I say keep working.

PokeTrainer RED wrote:Good things:
-Superpowers
-Pokemon
-Cow bacon
Bad things
-engineering of compliant citizens
-mass production of slaves
-mole-men
-SUPER DISEASES THAT NOTHING IN THE WORLD HAS ANY IMMUNITY AGAINST

fixed

Bah! We're gonna get those anyway. They'll call it Zebra flu or by then Pikachu flu or something.
We'll just have to steal some research and use it to make super parasite suits that make us invincible like that old anime. I'm more afraid of AI or radiation than biologicals at this point, though I will admit zombies would creep me out.

So we've made actual Spore. Lovely.

Porygon is a computer program, you'll have to pick something else sorry.
Anyway this is not going to end the world. There's all kinds of legal issues what with all those 'life' and 'religion' people running around. Plus it seems like their a ways off from practical application. The only people I can think would pay into this are eccentric bilionaires (rare), the food industry (but test tube meat might not be marketable), or the military (but with all the treaties and diplomacy and stuff it'd have to be done by another country, and our enemies are more focused on nukes). IF there's a germ outbreak, it'll come from the disease research people, not these gene splicing guys, and it'll only take a town or city not everyone. Plus we'll blame it on terrorists then incinerate if neccessary. The really scary article would be on an Apple mind reader ap. Seriously though our problems lie with the economy and civil liberties. Try watching FOX news, espescially that Glen Beck guy, for a week and not crap your pants when you hear the words "government" or "Wall Street".
By the way is Spore the game where you make your own monsters? Is that fun?

Oh shit you're right! Mewtwo will rampage and kill us all! I take it back, someone save me!