MemeFlux

The Guardian reports on upcoming news about the first synthetic chromosome, which can be equated to creating a simple life form:

Craig Venter, the controversial DNA researcher involved in the race to decipher the human genetic code, has built a synthetic chromosome out of laboratory chemicals and is poised to announce the creation of the first new artificial life form on Earth.

The chromosome, however is not designed from scratch:

Using lab-made chemicals, they have painstakingly stitched together a chromosome that is 381 genes long and contains 580,000 base pairs of genetic code.The DNA sequence is based on the bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium which the team pared down to the bare essentials needed to support life, removing a fifth of its genetic make-up.

M. genitalium (yes, it may be considered causing an STD) has a relatively short genome — only about 580000 base pairs (you know; A+T or G+C), compared to around 3 billion (10^9) pairs in the human genome, making it ideal for studies of this sort.

So, is this big news? The tabloids will surely pick this up with poorly-hidden references to Dr. Frankenstein and whatnots, everyone from the religious right to deepest socialist greens will go head over heels to condemn the work as meddling with God’s/Nature’s work, claiming that it is “unnatural” and immoral. So, for a moment, let’s consider what Mr. Venter’s team most likely have done:

They have taken the shortest genome known at the time they started the work, and have through a technique called gene knockout debugged all of it to find out which parts of it are actually needed to sustain life (in this context a self-replicating chromosome). Having also sequenced the genome, the team has painstakingly assembled all the parts needed from individual proteins. What is big news about this is that it 1) is an extraordinary engineering feat, and 2) proves what has long been assumed amongst biologists: there is nothing magic to life, it is only a matter of assembling the right components. Venter and his team are neither immoral nor is what they are doing unnatural, they are just pioneers on the very frontiers of science, and their discoveries and techniques will have profound impacts on genetic therapy and medical treatment of all of us in a few years’ time.

As a last point; take a moment to check out the database info for M. Genitalium; think about the amounts of information and knowledge that is hidden in data like these– one day you will have your own genome stored as a file, which can be used for diagnostics, getting tailor-made medicines that will actually work, make you know your deep historic genetic origins.