Continuing from Creating Life in the Lab:
Craig Venter became known for unconventional but effective methods that led to a race to map the human genome. "Once again [he] has generated a mixture of excitement and horror among the scientific community and the public at large with the announcement that he, like Victor Frankenstein, has decided to create life in the lab."
In the horror category would be worries like these: Is it arrogant to play God? Will they wind up unleashing a disaster? Will these new life forms get out of control? Will this project prove that God is unnecessary?
"To accomplish his goal, Venter has founded Synthetic Genomics, Inc. This new company is devoted to making artificial, nonnatural life - microbes that have commercial utility, particularly for the production of ethanol, hydrogen, and other forms of renewable energy."
Author Fazale Rana is in the excitement camp. "It is just a matter of time before Craig Venter and Hamilton Smith produce Mycoplasma Laboratorium and multiple variants derived from this minimal life form . . . the floodgates will open. . . The creation of artificial life will be a boon for science and technology."
In addition to his practical take on artificial life, he has a distinctly Christian take on it. Next post.
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