Scientists Believe Artificial Life Will Be Possible in 3 to 10 Years

[Miktar]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293764,00.html


WASHINGTON ? Around the world, a handful of scientists are trying to create life from scratch and they're getting closer.

Experts expect an announcement within three to 10 years from someone in the now little-known field of "wet artificial life."

"It's going to be a big deal and everybody's going to know about it," said Mark Bedau, chief operating officer of ProtoLife of Venice, Italy, one of those in the race. "We're talking about a technology that could change our world in pretty fundamental ways ? in fact, in ways that are impossible to predict."

That first cell of synthetic life ? made from the basic chemicals in DNA ? may not seem like much to non-scientists. For one thing, you'll have to look in a microscope to see it.

"Creating protocells has the potential to shed new light on our place in the universe," Bedau said. "This will remove one of the few fundamental mysteries about creation in the universe and our role."

And several scientists believe man-made life forms will one day offer the potential for solving a variety of problems, from fighting diseases to locking up greenhouse gases to eating toxic waste.

Bedau figures there are three major hurdles to creating synthetic life:

? A container, or membrane, for the cell to keep bad molecules out, allow good ones, and the ability to multiply.

? A genetic system that controls the functions of the cell, enabling it to reproduce and mutate in response to environmental changes.

? A metabolism that extracts raw materials from the environment as food and then changes it into energy.

One of the leaders in the field, Jack Szostak at Harvard Medical School, predicts that within the next six months, scientists will report evidence that the first step ? creating a cell membrane ? is "not a big problem." Scientists are using fatty acids in that effort.

Szostak is also optimistic about the next step ? getting nucleotides, the building blocks of DNA, to form a working genetic system.

His idea is that once the container is made, if scientists add nucleotides in the right proportions, then Darwinian evolution could simply take over.

"We aren't smart enough to design things, we just let evolution do the hard work and then we figure out what happened," Szostak said.

In Gainesville, Fla., Steve Benner, a biological chemist at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution is attacking that problem by going outside of natural genetics. Normal DNA consists of four bases ? adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine (known as A,C,G,T) ? molecules that spell out the genetic code in pairs. Benner is trying to add eight new bases to the genetic alphabet.

Bedau said there are legitimate worries about creating life that could "run amok," but there are ways of addressing it, and it will be a very long time before that is a problem.

"When these things are created, they're going to be so weak, it'll be a huge achievement if you can keep them alive for an hour in the lab," he said. "But them getting out and taking over, never in our imagination could this happen."

(Bold: We're doomed)

[Q-Man]

"What? that could never happen"

ummmmmmm........yeah.......k. Just like "scientist would NEVER be able to create artificial life"

I don't think things like this could ever end well.

[ShadowMaster]

A lot of the worlds worst disasters were caused by over confidence.

[Chevron]

I wonder what the religious fanatics will say when they succeed.

[Miktar]

(Bold: We're doomed)

Yah, got anything else to contribute? :P

[Mic]

Bedau said there are legitimate worries about creating life that could "run amok," but there are ways of addressing it, and it will be a very long time before that is a problem.



(Bold: We're doomed)

ok... so It will be our great grand children's problem then.... ok

100 years later *epic war against mans own creation*

[Antharias]

Quoting yourself is cool :P

The religious fanatics are going to have a field day as per usual.

Can you imagine the possibilities of something that could help save the current state of our planet. They could kill humans :D That would solve the source of the problem, not the fact that we have already done damage.

The problem with humans is that once they have created it, they will have to destroy it for fear that it will conquer them.

If they could figure out teleportation, now that would be cool. :)

[Chevron]

As long as they don't call their creation cylon.

[Bke]

Well scientists allways worry about the end result of altering/createing life, in fact the only reason we dont have gene boosted humans is because, scientists truely fear gene boosted humans will end up wageing war with us, but dont worry study some biology and you will understand that there are so many fail safes we can employ to cover our weak asses ... ~everything is possible to me~

[Aesir]

As long as they don't call their creation cylon.

LOL, just what I was thinking while reading it. Eating toxic waste? Will the feces not be a biohazard aswell?

[kHayne]

When can I buy my synthetic catgirl already?
Must have lasers.

[PloPshoP]

(Bold: We're doomed)

We need a Neo. "Letting evolution take over" could be like allowing a psychopath to be let loose with a flamethrower. Allowing a new organism to evolve (ie. free reign to self-improve) is not something that I am comfortable with.

Call me xenophobic, but I would rather be a lonely human, than compete with something that has superior DNA for the role of the dominant species.

[Garson007]

I for one am not paranoid at all.

[dislekcia]

We need a Neo. "Letting evolution take over" could be like allowing a psychopath to be let loose with a flamethrower. Allowing a new organism to evolve (ie. free reign to self-improve) is not something that I am comfortable with.

Call me xenophobic, but I would rather be a lonely human, than compete with something that has superior DNA for the role of the dominant species.

Oh man. Your understanding of evolution is so wrong it actually hurts...

No, you don't allow things to evolve, everything that can reproduce and undergo change evolves. No, improvement is not an evolutionary measure, things simply survive. No, there is no such thing as superior DNA.

That said, artificial life is neat. It will teach us a lot about how our own mechanisms work, which is always a good thing. Sure, some people might do horrible things with that knowledge, but everyone can always do horrible things with the things they know. Tough.

-D

[dangarratt]

btw, this is slightly old news, but I'll respond anyway: Hooray for sci-fi, for we already know how this will end:
EITHER:
1. The Frakenstein way. Mary Shelley showed us the "there are some things Man was not meant to know" AAARGH squelch view of creating life. (aka the Michael Crichton view (author of Jurassic Park, and many other books).
(By the way, there is a MASSIVE difference between life (oooh look, an amoeba) and SENTIENT life (advanced life forms self-aware and waging war against man).
Currently sentience exists only in the sci-fi realm. And for those worried that this artificial life forms will evolve and wage war: macro-evolution, *if* possible, is about as likely as a whirlwind blowing into a junkyard and creating a 747, and will anyway take billions of years. So, based on current scientific theories, our great-great-great-great etc grandchildren won't have anything to worry about....)
OR
2. The Asimovian Robot way. Isaac Asimov postulated robots (artificial, sentient life) being designed with Three Laws to keep them in check. They are engineered, and any problems are dealt with coolly and by means of rational thinking.

MOST PROBABLE RESULT, BASED ON OUR TRACK RECORD SO FAR:
We would aim for 2, but accidentally release a genetic disease which will wipe out all life on earth.....

[Miktar]

If there is one thing I've learned, is that it usually goes the way we never expected it to.

[Gldm]

macro-evolution, *if* possible, is about as likely as a whirlwind blowing into a junkyard and creating a 747, and will anyway take billions of years. So, based on current scientific theories, our great-great-great-great etc grandchildren won't have anything to worry about....)


Umm it's quite a bit more likely, since whirlwinds don't really have any kind of feedback system or selection pressure that would favor the parts being in the shape of a 747. If anything that would have more wind resistance, so I don't see how that could possibly work.

The real danger is on the micro-scale anyway. Things like say, India's method of birth control. They've been messing with a system that modifies women to produce antibodies to attack eggs or sperm, rendering them permanently infertile. The carrier vector they're playing with for this is based on Diptheria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diptheria), which is not exactly your most tame and well behaved disease on the planet. Having that get out of control could decimate the species.

[Nandrew]

The real danger is on the micro-scale anyway. Things like say, India's method of birth control. They've been messing with a system that modifies women to produce antibodies to attack eggs or sperm, rendering them permanently infertile. The carrier vector they're playing with for this is based on Diptheria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diptheria), which is not exactly your most tame and well behaved disease on the planet. Having that get out of control could decimate the species.

Yes, BUT ...

But ...

Have you fully considered the possibility of dinosaurs? I believe we'll create dinosaurs that kill us. That would be wicked awesome.

Then the Diptheria will gettem.


Otherwise, I'm hard-pressed to add anything new to this discussion. ;_;

[dangarratt]

Umm it's quite a bit more likely, since whirlwinds don't really have any kind of feedback system or selection pressure that would favor the parts being in the shape of a 747. If anything that would have more wind resistance, so I don't see how that could possibly work.

The real danger is on the micro-scale anyway. Things like say, India's method of birth control. They've been messing with a system that modifies women to produce antibodies to attack eggs or sperm, rendering them permanently infertile. The carrier vector they're playing with for this is based on Diptheria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diptheria), which is not exactly your most tame and well behaved disease on the planet. Having that get out of control could decimate the species.

The whirlwind thing is just matching two probabilities, it's not intended to be an analogy for macro-evolution (that's /slightly/ more complex!)!

And, WHAT THE HELL are the Indians doing?!!! Are you sure about this? Great way to shoot ourselves in the foot - we won't even need artificial life!

[Gldm]

Yes, BUT ...

But ...

Have you fully considered the possibility of dinosaurs? I believe we'll create dinosaurs that kill us. That would be wicked awesome.

Then the Diptheria will gettem.


Otherwise, I'm hard-pressed to add anything new to this discussion. ;_;

To quote Jurassic Park:

"God creates dinosaurs; God destroys dinosaurs; God creates Man; Man destroys God; Man creates dinosaurs."

[Gldm]

And, WHAT THE HELL are the Indians doing?!!! Are you sure about this? Great way to shoot ourselves in the foot - we won't even need artificial life!

Yeah it's awesome. Just like those genetically modified seeds that produce plants that DON'T produce more seeds! That'll be fun when they run rampant across the globe.

[kHayne]

Meh. Life finds a way. Man finds a way to kill it.
I don't buy the 'cloned-raptors/androids/nanites will kill us all' argument at all. One thing that should never be underestimated is man's capacity for extinctifying stuff. If we eradicated saber-tooth tigers with sharp pointy sticks and fire, dinos versus lasers and nukes = fail.
Hollywood likes to paint us as shaved monkeys toying with things bigger than us, but I call shenanigans. We sent people to the moon and back strapped to rockets and powered by pocket-calculators. Give us some credit.

[Miktar]

Go Humanity! Rah Rah Rah! :p

[Chevron]

Yeah it's awesome. Just like those genetically modified seeds that produce plants that DON'T produce more seeds! That'll be fun when they run rampant across the globe.

Hey. I don't like grapes with seeds.

We could always do that thing were you cut a chunk of the plants root off and start another plant with it (the proper name escapes me know, vegetative something I think).

[R4mzy]

Wow... I can't wait to be engaged in fierce battle with the Cyborgs... Real Life FTW!

[Mic]

mmm.. a new world order were gamers have the upper hand and I can finally pursue my dream of becoming the dictator of Antarctica....

[UntouchableOne]

Make a game about it. Humans vs. Man made freaks...or has it been done...mmm

[ShadowMaster]

mmm.. a new world order were gamers have the upper hand and I can finally pursue my dream of becoming the dictator of Antarctica....

Joking:
To what? Rule penguins?

[Chevron]

Joking:
To what? Rule penguins?

Why not. They're cool and use Linux. :)

[Garson007]

Some humour is needed, go here: www.exitmundi.nl Awesome site about these kind of stuff, in a all but serious manner.

[DaBaish]

I'm just worried that crap like this will fall into...dare I say...
EVIL HANDS!!!!
Next thing you know it'll be Mech Wars and this giant-ass machine'll pick you up and will literally tear you to pieces. What a bummer.
Wait..."Catgirls"? "Neko ears"? I'm in! =D Especially if it'll be like, Mahoromatic, Chobits, Steel Angel Kurumi or any other Anime Love-comedy involving mechanically cute girls! I'M IN!!!!! *thumbs up*