[OT] It's alive: Lab to spawn new life form

[Vaxalon]

Isn't it clear?

For the cytoplasm. They may know how to rig up the DNA, but they don't know how to synthesize cell walls, mitochondria, or any of the dozens of organelles in side a cell.

 

[green slime]

Re: Isn't it clear?

For the cytoplasm. They may know how to rig up the DNA, but they don't know how to synthesize cell walls, mitochondria, or any of the dozens of organelles in side a cell.

Yes indeed. It is a far cry from any advanced form of life.

But one thing is bothering me. WHY is the Department of Energy interested in this research? What do they hope to achieve? Seems more like a cover for something else.

 

[Vaxalon]

According to the article, they want to "develop a molecular definition of life."

In other words, they're claiming that the goal is, essentially, PHILOSOPHICAL.

Yeah, right.

Seems more likely to me that they want to be able to sidestep some of the limitations that evolved life has put on itself.

Microbes, for example, that prey on multicellular creatures are careful to evolve strategies that allow them to refrain from killing ALL of their possible hosts. Either they leave a certain percentage alive after a particular outbreak (Influenza, any of your various plagues), or they proceed slowly (AIDS), or they hit SO fast that the victims don't have time to travel any great distance (Ebola).

Either that, or they want to design germs that only attach to certain kinds of cells... like cancer cells, or AIDS-infected cells...

or Iraqui cells....

or cells from a small family...

or just one person...

Whatever the reason, it's pretty clear that they're not telling us the REAL reason.

 

[Hand of Vecna]

Guys, it's obvious why the Dept. of Energy is behind it -- they're looking to create a lifeform, of varying size, with the electrical generation capabilities of a hundred electric eels, which they'll use as batteries to power anything from hearing aids (using infant versions) to buildings (using large vats of the adult versions)!!!

And, of course, the DOE would be the sole supplier of not only the creatures, but of the special nutrients they require daily...

 

[Airwolf]

-snip-

Whatever the reason, it's pretty clear that they're not telling us the REAL reason.

You can't possibly be saying that the U.S. government has a hidden agenda?

 

[Vaxalon]

No, it's not DOE that would own it. That's to Democratic.

The Republican thing to do would be to reward the researcher with the patent on the organism for doing such a wonderful job... along WITH the huge amounts of money they already got...

After all, we can't come out of this thing without a big handout to a corporation, somewhere. We have to remember who the constituency is.

 

[Zappo]

Re: Isn't it clear?

For the cytoplasm. They may know how to rig up the DNA, but they don't know how to synthesize cell walls, mitochondria, or any of the dozens of organelles in side a cell.

I still don't buy it. To build a working DNA sequence from scratch, the precision with which we can cut and paste DNA bits would have to become high enough to work reliably on the single base level. I'm pretty sure that we aren't that good yet.

 

[Fast Learner]

Well, the DoE is sponsoring it for energy production, it's true, but for the production of hydrogen gas, not quite as exotic as hypothesized above.

But cool in the extreme.

 

[Zappo]

Thanks for the link, FL. After reading it I think that the difference between having goats spin silk (which he calls "everyday" stuff ) and what he's actually going to try is just that he wants to manipulate much more important and basic genes.

In the article pointed by Fast Learner:
You know, human genetics is probably the single most cutthroat field I've seen in biology. The vindictive nature of some of these scientists is truly stunning.

Gaah. It must be like the Discworld's Unseen University. Every day checking your soup with a microscope to make sure that noone placed a lethal bioengineered virus into it.

 

[Vaxalon]

Re: Re: Isn't it clear?

I still don't buy it. To build a working DNA sequence from scratch, the precision with which we can cut and paste DNA bits would have to become high enough to work reliably on the single base level. I'm pretty sure that we aren't that good yet.

It's not the sophistication, it's the sheer VOLUME of work required.

An entire cell is many orders of magnitude larger than a strand of DNA. There's no need to build it, when you can set up the DNA the way you want, and have the cell build itself the way you want it.

Yes, they ARE manipulating individual CGATs. They've been able to do that for a few months now.