'Artificial life' breakthrough

tw · 05-22-2010, 01:30 PM

Somebody made new tumblers. Put them in a lock. Changed how the lock works.

That is what created artificial life. They did not build a cell. They constructed proteins to change a cells function.

What makes this significant is that they constructed (synthesized) DNA the way they wanted. Now a cell can be 'reprogrammed'. Or changed just like tumblers are changed on a lock. Or a computer reprogrammed. The cell must be provided from somewhere. Then change cell 'programming' by chaining together the AGCT proteins. They synthesize a reprogramming protein.

This will get the emotional upset because somehow that gets spun into “they created life”.

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05-22-2010, 01:30 PM	#11
tw Read? I only know how to write. Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 11,933	Somebody made new tumblers. Put them in a lock. Changed how the lock works. That is what created artificial life. They did not build a cell. They constructed proteins to change a cells function. What makes this significant is that they constructed (synthesized) DNA the way they wanted. Now a cell can be 'reprogrammed'. Or changed just like tumblers are changed on a lock. Or a computer reprogrammed. The cell must be provided from somewhere. Then change cell 'programming' by chaining together the AGCT proteins. They synthesize a reprogramming protein. This will get the emotional upset because somehow that gets spun into “they created life”.

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