Scientists Create A Virus That Reproduces

Scientists create a virus that reproduces
By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

It is the stuff of science fiction and bioethical debates: The creation of artificial life. Up until now, it's largely been just that.

But an important technical bridge towards the creation of such life was crossed Thursday when genomics pioneer Craig Venter announced that his research group created an artificial virus based on a real one in just two weeks' time.

When researchers created a synthetic genome (genetic map) of the virus and implanted it into a cell, the virus became "biologically active," meaning it went to work reproducing itself.

they named the virus Phi-X...catchy huh?

does the potential for good that new life forms may have outweigh the harm they could do?

The researchers chose to put the new technology into the public domain for all scientists to use. It will appear in the next few weeks on the Web site of the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences".

[Edited on 19-11-2003 by Creepy]

This is ugly. Ever seen the Omega Man? This sounds just like the first steps- germ warfare.

Originally posted by Creepy

Scientists create a virus that reproduces
By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

It is the stuff of science fiction and bioethical debates: The creation of artificial life. Up until now, it's largely been just that.

But an important technical bridge towards the creation of such life was crossed Thursday when genomics pioneer Craig Venter announced that his research group created an artificial virus based on a real one in just two weeks' time.

When researchers created a synthetic genome (genetic map) of the virus and implanted it into a cell, the virus became "biologically active," meaning it went to work reproducing itself.

they named the virus Phi-X...catchy huh?

does the potential for good that new life forms may have outweigh the harm they could do?

The researchers chose to put the new technology into the public domain for all scientists to use. It will appear in the next few weeks on the Web site of the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences".

[Edited on 17-11-2003 by Creepy]

What is the difference between a living cell and a spec of dust? That is a question we havent been able to answer yet in our history as humans. Everything on earth is made of the same known materials. What makes something alive? Where and how does the change happen? How did this change originally happen? This question is one reason why we as humans believe in God. We don't have an answer to life. That being said. If we as humans can grasp a concept of creation. If we can find a way to create life from dust. That would take away half of a logical argument for a god. Do we really want to go that far as to take away what people believe in?

Originally posted by Seapeople
What is the difference between a living cell and a spec of dust? That is a question we havent been able to answer yet in our history as humans. Everything on earth is made of the same known materials. What makes something alive? Where and how does the change happen? How did this change originally happen? This question is one reason why we as humans believe in God. We don't have an answer to life. That being said. If we as humans can grasp a concept of creation. If we can find a way to create life from dust. That would take away half of a logical argument for a god. Do we really want to go that far as to take away what people believe in?

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same god who has endowed us with sense,reason,and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.---Galileo

The just used some DNA, the chemical code for life, so it was not created from nothing. Didnt Miller's experiment show that amino acids, can be made by a natural process. We are close to creating life from nothing.

Hmm..this isn't good if they can mass-produce a deadly virus as they wish. Population reduction, perhaps? Maybe. Hmm..so instead of trying harder to find an AIDS cure, they go ahead and make a mass-reproducing virus. Great. We got some smartass scientists, don't we?

-wD

The team�s success was announced at a news conference in Washington, D.C., Thursday (Nov. 13) at the U.S. Department of Energy. Among those presenting details were Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, whose agency sponsored the research; Dr. J. Craig Venter, IBEA president; and Dr. Clyde A. Hutchison III, Kenan professor of microbiology at the UNC School of Medicine. A detailed report will appear soon in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a professional journal.

"Our successful genome synthesis was for a bacterial virus, or bacteriophage, named Phi X 174," said Hutchison. "The virus has a genome 5,386 base pairs in length. We assembled the complete double-stranded genome from 259 chemically synthesized short pieces of single-stranded DNA known as oligonucleotides."

Examples of possible benefits of synthetic genomics include:

-Better, faster gene synthesis and faster, more accurate DNA-based vaccines,
-Improved phage therapy, for example, for treating antibiotic-resistant infections,
-Improved biological agent detection and deterrents,
-Clean energy production -- hydrogen via engineered photosynthetic process and
-Eventual construction of "cassette-based" organisms of particular genes that could be inserted into host organisms to conduct numerous functions including producing drugs, textiles, plastics and microbes for cleaning up oil spills, radioactive wastes and other hazards.

[Edited on 17-11-2003 by Creepy]

actually scientists aren't that bad, it's once the government gets involved that we have problems, I think China may be seeing this peice of science in a couple years, they'll enjoy it, instead of taxing, we'll just kill you......mabe that's where SARS came from.

The question isn't really about teh virus itself, but what the virus does. If it's a ebola-like killer, then we really hav eto be concerned. Hoever, it it's like the bacteria in our stomachs, then I guess it's okay. Producing a biological organism that can potentially form it's own civilization from scratch is really a new breakthrough.

I doubt that the virus will have any military or use as weaponry. I think it's more of a benchmark that we've reached.

I like the name phi-x.

Originally posted by outsidethemilkglass
I think China may be seeing this peice of science in a couple years, they'll enjoy it, instead of taxing, we'll just kill you......mabe that's where SARS came from.

the research will be put into the public domain within the week...it can be found here when available>>>"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences"

[Edited on 17-11-2003 by Creepy]

Originally posted by Creepy

Originally posted by Seapeople
What is the difference between a living cell and a spec of dust? That is a question we havent been able to answer yet in our history as humans. Everything on earth is made of the same known materials. What makes something alive? Where and how does the change happen? How did this change originally happen? This question is one reason why we as humans believe in God. We don't have an answer to life. That being said. If we as humans can grasp a concept of creation. If we can find a way to create life from dust. That would take away half of a logical argument for a god. Do we really want to go that far as to take away what people believe in?

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same god who has endowed us with sense,reason,and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.---Galileo

I dont necessarily believe in god. I was only asking whether you guys thought that it would take away something... from the standpoint of peoples imagination maybe...

Creating a virus is several steps below creating life itself. Many bioligists even dispute if viruses are in fact living. Creation of a virus is much like a more large scale creation of a nanomachine, except using proteins bonded in acertain configuration. A virus lacks the organelles, fluids, energy aspects a true cell does.

Google Viruses, find out more

Manmade viruses are scary, unlike bacteria, antibodies don't work againsta virus, making progressive killers like AIDs truly terrifying

Originally posted by Dreamstone
Creating a virus is several steps below creating life itself. Many bioligists even dispute if viruses are in fact living. Creation of a virus is much like a more large scale creation of a nanomachine, except using proteins bonded in acertain configuration. A virus lacks the organelles, fluids, energy aspects a true cell does.

Google Viruses, find out more

Manmade viruses are scary, unlike bacteria, antibodies don't work againsta virus, making progressive killers like AIDs truly terrifying

Alive or not, they are surely a step in that direction. Viruses function. They reproduce. Thats what humans do. We reproduce, our soul purpose for being on earth. It is a long way off even if a virus was definitly life. Still, the day a scientist can change a nonliving object or particle into something alive, will be the day everything changes.

True, it is a huge step.

It is also a step of several magnitudes below creating even a paramecium