Venter creates life! (cue lightning please)

Whether or not you agree with Craig Venter about creating the first new artificial life form on Earth, you’ve got to admit the man has a sense of humor. 

The announcement could be made within the next few weeks that Venter has created a new life form…putting it smack dab in the midst of the Halloween season.  Cue the lightning and thunder, please, for the good doctor Frankenstein.  Here’s an excerpt from the Guardian:

A team of 20 top scientists assembled by Mr. Venter, led by the Nobel laureate Hamilton Smith, has already constructed a synthetic chromosome, a feat of virtuoso bio-engineering never previously achieved. 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 fallout after the announcement will be interesting to watch, especially as it relates to the global warming issue.  Venter believes designer genomes could lead to alternative energy sources.  Bacteria also could be created to help mop up excessive carbon dioxide, thus contributing to the solution to global warming, he says.

So how will the global warming crowd respond to the news?  Will they get on board with Venter’s proposal, or dismiss it.  Their response could be telling.  Some believe the global warming crowd’s ultimate beef is with the world’s overindulgence, and not about saving the environment. 

Venter’s bacteria could be seen as a “short cut” to reducing carbon emissions.  Whether this will lead to the bacteria idea’s demise in the lab remains to be seen.

Check out the full Guardian article here.