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‘Synthetic biologists’ build with one genetic molecule at a time
They're called "synthetic biologists" and they boldly claim the ability to make never-before-seen living things, one genetic molecule at a time.
They're mixing, matching and stacking DNA's chemical components like microscopic Lego blocks in an effort to make biologically based computers, medicines and alternative energy sources. The rapidly expanding field is confounding the taxonomists' centuries-old system of classifying species and raising concerns about the new technology's potential for misuse.
Though scientists have been combining the genetic material of two species for 30 years now, their work has remained relatively simplistic.
Scientists might add one foreign gene to an organism to produce a drug like insulin. The technique is more art than science given the brute trial-and-error it takes to create cells that make drugs.
www.seattletimes.com
They're called "synthetic biologists" and they boldly claim the ability to make never-before-seen living things, one genetic molecule at a time.
They're mixing, matching and stacking DNA's chemical components like microscopic Lego blocks in an effort to make biologically based computers, medicines and alternative energy sources. The rapidly expanding field is confounding the taxonomists' centuries-old system of classifying species and raising concerns about the new technology's potential for misuse.
Though scientists have been combining the genetic material of two species for 30 years now, their work has remained relatively simplistic.
Scientists might add one foreign gene to an organism to produce a drug like insulin. The technique is more art than science given the brute trial-and-error it takes to create cells that make drugs.
Creating life from scratch, one molecule at a time
They're called "synthetic biologists" and they boldly claim the ability to make never-before-seen living things, one genetic molecule at...
www.seattletimes.com
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