Welcome to artificial life Synthia

Hi,

Synthia has become the worlds first artifically created life form. ( apparently my little cousin didn't count :confused: )

http://rabble.ca/news/2010/05/americ...shares-it-comm

Now for the important question - did they remember to include an off switch?

I'll get the pitchforks and flaming torches if you get the burgers for the BBQ. :gj:


dr del

Neat...

...so how's that oil spill/leak doing in the gulf?

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Originally Posted by Jerhart

Neat...

...so how's that oil spill/leak doing in the gulf?

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Don't worry about it. We'll pay for all that mess this summer when we're paying $5 a gallon for gas. Meanwhile BP will post record profits...:confused:


again....:mad:

Awesome awesome awesome awesome!

Thats so cool!!!! :P

D every thing has an off switch..The Smith and Wesson company markets them, as does Mossburg..

IMO, life can not be artificial. Life is life cannot be made by human. Even though they say that this is life.... I dont agree that its life....

I'm fairly sure that Smith and Wesson's products won't be any real help to you against a bacterium.

However, I think this is a truly awesome achievement, personally, and it's about time they managed it. Sounds like they're still working out the bugs, though. The problem is that, without understanding the proteome, we're really shooting blind with this sort of thing.

There are a bunch of people who are all paranoid about this new organism going rogue and turning into a super-plague or something, but those folks really just failed High School Biology...of course the synthetic bacterium is harmless, it's not even working properly yet. Bacteria are very primitive things, and they simply eat, reproduce, and excrete--that's all. With such a simple genome, this one isn't going to be mutating into a form that eats people anytime soon. It's much less likely to do so than the bacteria living on your computer desk.

As for an 'off switch' for bacteria--bleach works. ;)

The future implications of this technology are vast...how about a line of bacteria that eat oil, and excrete water? You could tailor bacteria to deal with most any harmful substance, and produce something harmless as a waste product (you may have to use several strains, converting the substance several times, but you can get there).
If you need a bacterium that does just one thing...this is a good way to go about it.

We need to learn more, but part of learning is doing--the whimsical addition of poetry into a DNA code also amuses me.
I'm waiting for someone to put the Bible into one of these things next, that should have people yelling, lol.

Is this life? Of course it's life--it's a bacterium, and it does what other bacteria do. They took the shell of a bacterium and put artificially created DNA into it. We are not yet at the point where we can build the WHOLE THING from scratch...but honestly, since the very first organism on Earth, no other living thing does that either.

You can't disenfranchise the little guys as life forms just because a computer wrote their DNA code. DNA is DNA...they eat, they excrete, they reproduce--they're alive.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

I'm fairly sure that Smith and Wesson's products won't be any real help to you against a bacterium.

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Joke:
1. Something said or done to evoke laughter or amusement, especially an amusing story with a punch line.
2. A mischievous trick; a prank.
3. An amusing or ludicrous incident or situation.
4. Informal.
1. Something not to be taken seriously; a triviality: The accident was no joke.
2. An object of amusement or laughter; a laughingstock: His loud tie was the joke of the office.


P.S.. Gun powered burns at 800 degrees C it only takes 120 degrees C for 30 minutes to kill every known form of bacteria so given a 5 minute burn at 800 decrees C would even Off bacterium..

S&W wins again.. :D

Yes, got the joke, just didn't see how it applied--you've corrected me, though. If you put the bacteria inside of a gun, you can solve the problem.

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Originally Posted by Jerhart

Neat...

...so how's that oil spill/leak doing in the gulf?

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No worries! Synthia will take care of it... :bow:


So, who is already thinking about how to breed Synthia Ball Pythons?...:rofl:

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Originally Posted by dc1

IMO, life can not be artificial. Life is life cannot be made by human. Even though they say that this is life.... I dont agree that its life....

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:confused:

How is this bacteria not alive? BTW, humans have been making life for quite some time now. I made two life forms myself! (With a little help from my wife) :P

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Originally Posted by dc1

IMO, life can not be artificial. Life is life cannot be made by human. Even though they say that this is life.... I dont agree that its life....

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Sorry, but its life, like it or not.

I think its a great break through. There are a lot of possibilities with this sort of technology that may be very beneficial.

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Originally Posted by Blue Apple Herps

Sorry, but its life, like it or not.

I think its a great break through. There are a lot of possibilities with this sort of technology that may be very beneficial.

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Agreed, its practically incomprehendable what they could do with this. Cure cancer, aids, oil spills, kool aid stains, and hopefully even studity :please::please::please:

I wonder how hard could it be to produce Red Blood Cells with something like this?

I'm always being called for blood donations, specifically for patients that have gone through burns. One of the nurses explained it to me once, but I forgot most of it by now. Something along the lines of my age, weight (not over weight) and no blood problems.

They're already testing artificial red blood cells that work as well as real ones.

Life beyond the most simple bacteria is a LONG way off. Sythia isn't perfect--they don't have everything figured out yet, and not all the genes they put in switched on the way they were supposed to. This is because sequencing is more complicated than just putting it in there--it has to be in the right order. Synthia is an amazing achievement, but it really just demonstrates how much we still have to learn.

A red blood cell doesn't contain DNA, because it has no nucleus.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

They're already testing artificial red blood cells that work as well as real ones.

Life beyond the most simple bacteria is a LONG way off. Sythia isn't perfect--they don't have everything figured out yet, and not all the genes they put in switched on the way they were supposed to. This is because sequencing is more complicated than just putting it in there--it has to be in the right order. Synthia is an amazing achievement, but it really just demonstrates how much we still have to learn.

A red blood cell doesn't contain DNA, because it has no nucleus.

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Correct, meaning with this technology it should be pretty easy to synthetically create.

That makes no sense.

This technology involves taking an EXISTING cell, emptying it, and replacing the original DNA with the synthesized DNA.

How is that going to help with making red blood cells, which have no DNA? There is nothing to replace.

We can't make a cell from scratch yet, we need to have an existing cell to 'reprogram'. Basically, they removed the bacterium's hard drive, and replaced it with a new one that had a different operating system. They can't yet build the rest of the 'computer'.

However, in a completely unrelated research project, they have succeeded in making a cell-like structure with the SHAPE of a red blood cell, which contains a chemical that bonds and releases oxygen just like a red blood cell does. THAT technology is real artificial blood, and may come to replace donated blood if it can be made cost effective. It's certainly a heck of a lot safer.

Here's an article on the artificial red blood cells: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1217201827.htm

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

How is that going to help with making red blood cells, which have no DNA? There is nothing to replace.

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If you used these guys to act as marrow cells you could "farm" blood. You could have an endless supply of red blood cells and never have to worry about the transmission of diseases.

Dude, bacteria are a fraction of the size of red blood cells. You can't program a bacterium to make red blood cells.