In The News

August 22 - Artificial life will be created 'within months' as genome experts claim vital breakthrough

Article: Cloning And Genetic Engineering

Scientists are only months away from creating artificial life, it was claimed yesterday.

Dr Craig Venter � one of the world�s most famous and controversial biologists � said his U.S. researchers have overcome one of the last big hurdles to making a synthetic organism. The first artificial lifeform is likely to be a simple man-made bacterium that proves that the technology can work.

But it will be followed by more complex bacteria that turn coal into cleaner natural gas, or algae that can soak up carbon dioxide and convert it into fuels. They could also be used to create new vaccines and antibiotics.

Yesterday Dr Venter said: �Assuming we don�t make any errors, I think it should work and we should have the first synthetic species by the end of the year.�

'There is an urgent need for vaccines,' they wrote. 'This technology could accelerate the construction of live vaccine strains.'

Venter has said he hopes to manipulate organisms to produce biofuels, clean up toxic waste and sequester carbon to slow global warming. Researchers already regularly engineer life forms by adding or deleting genes.