Scientists Create a Living Organism

CNN– Scientists have turned inanimate chemicals into a living organism in an experiment that raises profound questions about the essence of life.

Craig Venter, the U.S. genomics pioneer, announced on Thursday that scientists at his laboratories in Maryland and California had succeeded in their 15-year project to make the world’s first “synthetic cells” – bacteria called Mycoplasma mycoides.

“We have passed through a critical psychological barrier,” Dr. Venter told the FT. “It has changed my own thinking, both scientifically and philosophically, about life, and how it works.”

The bacteria’s genes were all constructed in the laboratory “from four bottles of chemicals on a chemical synthesizer, starting with information on a computer,” he said.

The research, published online by the journal Science, was hailed as a landmark by many independent scientists and philosophers.

“Venter is creaking open the most profound door in humanity’s history, potentially peeking into its destiny,” said Julian Savulescu, ethics professor at Oxford University. “This is a step towards… creation of living beings with capacities and natures that could never have naturally evolved.”

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DIGITAL JOURNAL– Author of “A Brief History of Time” Stephen Hawking is wrong when it comes to contact with aliens, according to former Canadian Defence Minister Paul Hellyer who believes extraterrestrials have contributed to human technological advancements.

Digital Journal reported last week that Professor Stephen Hawking stated the thought of alien life as “perfectly rational” to him but urged caution seeking out extraterrestrials for fear that they might raid us for our resources, “If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.”

According to CNET News, Hawking stated this week that time travel is possible and that one day we will have spaceships that are so fast that 650 million miles per hour would be similar to one year on planet Earth.

Eventually, says Hawking, Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity will one day be obsolete. In theory, humans will be able to “colonize the future” and maybe even repopulate the Earth if a disaster were to occur on the planet and cause the human species to die off, reports the Times Online.

“Time travel was once considered scientific heresy and I used to avoid talking about it for fear of being labelled a crank, but these days I’m not so cautious,” said Hawking.

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Photo by flickr user Miki Yoshihito