New York Times Editorial: One Cell Forward

New York Times Editorial: One Cell Forward
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: May 28, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/opinion/30sun3.html?th&emc=th


In a recent issue of Science magazine, the genome pioneer Craig Venter announced that he and scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute had created a “synthetic cell.” Mr. Venter heralded it as “the first self-replicating species we’ve had on the planet whose parent is a computer” and said it could allow humans to create new vaccines and biofuels using artificial microbes.

Mr. Venter’s claim to have created a synthetic species is likely overstated. But there is no denying that he has brought us an important step closer to the possibility of artificial life. President Obama has asked the White House bioethics commission to report back to him on the significance of this development.

“Synthetic cell” makes it sound as though Mr. Venter had constructed the entire cell, molecule by molecule. What he has done is create a synthetic genome — the longest string of DNA to be assembled in a laboratory — and place it in a bacterium. There, the synthetic DNA takes over the cell’s DNA, causing the bacterium to synthesize the proteins specified by the new DNA.

Several questions immediately leap to mind: Is this new technology practical for the commercial purposes Mr. Venter imagines? And is the creation of artificial life, even in this limited sense, a good thing?

Artificial life is a Pandora’s box unlike almost any other. The knowledge it could yield is incredibly tempting. Mr. Venter’s ingenuity and determination are formidable. Inventive as he is — inventive as we, as a species, are — that does not necessarily guarantee wisdom. There are plausible arguments on nearly all sides of these questions, and they have been debated hotly ever since the first, imaginary prospect of life. This newest step in Mr. Venter’s research brings a fresh urgency to the debate — and the need for some profound decisions.