The Irish Times - Saturday, May 22, 2010
DICK AHLSTROM
When J Craig Venter announced the creation of a synthetic cell this week he was accused of playing God. But stirring up controversy is in the scientist’s DNA
IF EVER the scientific world had a showman, that entertainer would be J Craig Venter. The California-based researcher knows how to do big science – and how to work the media and attract attention.
On Thursday he grabbed global headlines with the announcement that he had created a “synthetic cell”, a living organism built from scratch. He described the resultant organism, a bacterium, as “the first self-replicating species we’ve had on the planet whose parent is a computer”. This was a reference to the fact that its entire genetic blueprint, its DNA, had been assembled rather than grown......
DICK AHLSTROM
When J Craig Venter announced the creation of a synthetic cell this week he was accused of playing God. But stirring up controversy is in the scientist’s DNA
IF EVER the scientific world had a showman, that entertainer would be J Craig Venter. The California-based researcher knows how to do big science – and how to work the media and attract attention.
On Thursday he grabbed global headlines with the announcement that he had created a “synthetic cell”, a living organism built from scratch. He described the resultant organism, a bacterium, as “the first self-replicating species we’ve had on the planet whose parent is a computer”. This was a reference to the fact that its entire genetic blueprint, its DNA, had been assembled rather than grown......
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