Craig Venter says success is near, but critics blast efforts to patent synthetic organisms First he succeeded in reading humanity's genetic code. Now gene pioneer J. Craig Venter believes he is within weeks or months of creating the world's first free-living artificial organism in his laboratory. It won't be much to look at—a tiny bacterium with only a few hundred genes. But if it's truly feasible, he says, "it will be one of the bright milestones in human history, changing our conceptual view of life."
It also could be lucrative. Venter's company, Synthetic Genomics Inc., has already filed controversial patents on synthetic bugs, which could make fuels such as ethanol or hydrogen. And on June 13 it announced a deal with energy giant BPPLC to find and modify naturally occurring microbes that can turn coal or oil below the earth's surface into cleaner fuel.
Microorganisms "have the potential to provide all the transportation fuel we need in the U.S.," says Venter. "I joke that I'm going from the gene king to the oil king."SWARM OF RIVALS
In this emerging field of synthetic biology, though, Venter has plenty of competitors. Amyris Biotechnologies adds suites of genes to yeast or bacteria to make an antimalaria drug and novel biofuels.
Dozens of so-called gene foundries, including a Massachusetts Institute of Technology spin-off called Codon Devices Inc. in Cambridge, Mass., have sprung up to sell synthetic strands of DNA and other products. One company, EraGen Biosciences in Madison, Wis., even makes DNA from basic building blocks not found in nature, opening the door wider to new types of life. And many academics are trying to fashion free-living organisms from scratch.
So far, they have synthesized such simpler microbes as the polio virus and the 1918 flu virus.The benefits of such research could be enormous: not just drugs and fuels but also bugs that clean up pollution or flash when they detect explosives, plus a far deeper understanding of the basic mechanisms of biology. Venter imagines creating organisms worth billions or trillions of dollars.But the pitfalls could be huge as well.
What's to stop terrorists from buying pieces of DNA and fitting them together into a vicious pathogen, frets David C. Magnus, director of Stanford University's Center for Biomedical Ethics.
"There are plenty of people lying awake worrying about this," he says.Magnus and others have
been working with DNA foundries, suggesting measures to reduce the chances of dangerous organisms being unleashed, purposely or inadvertently.
One idea: use software to spot purchases of DNA sequences that could be used as weapons. Another is to have "biosafety" officials oversee research to ensure that pathogens created in labs are kept under control. Such measures are still voluntary. "We've essentially made a gamble that the science will keep us one step ahead of any nefarious uses," Magnus says.
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Artificial life will be created 'within months' as genome experts claim vital breakthrough
Scientists are only months away from creating artificial life, it was claimed yesterday.
Dr Craig Venter – one of the world’s most famous and controversial biologists – said his U.S. researchers have overcome one of the last big hurdles to making a synthetic organism.
The first artificial lifeform is likely to be a simple man-made bacterium that proves that the technology can work.
But it will be followed by more complex bacteria that turn coal into cleaner natural gas, or algae that can soak up carbon dioxide and convert it into fuels.
They could also be used to create new vaccines and antibiotics.
The prediction came after a breakthrough by the J Craig Venter Institute in Maryland.
Researchers successfully transferred the DNA of one type of bacteria into a yeast cell, modified it and then transferred it into another bacterial cell.
The pioneering 'gene swap' was performed on a simple species of bacteria called Mycoplasma mycoides.
Carole Lartigue and colleagues removed the bacteria's entire genome and inserted it into the yeast - an organism that is distant from bacteria on the tree of life.
Yeast is easier to manipulate in the lab and this process allowed the team to alter the genes - in this case, deleting one gene not necessary for bacteria to live.
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Sorcerer II
In this elegant research vessel, Craig Venter set sail around the world to shotgun sequence the millions of viruses and bacteria in every spoonful of seawater. From the first five ocean samples, this team grew the number of known genes on the planet by 10x and the number of genes involved in solar energy conversion by 100x. The ocean microorganisms have evolved over a longer period of time and have pathways that are more efficient than photosynthesis.
Another discovery: every 200 miles across the open ocean, the microbial genes are up to 85% different. The oceans are not homogenous masses. They consist of myriad uncharted regions of ecological diversity… and the world’s largest genetic database.
From the collection of digital genomes, we are learning to decode and reprogram the information systems of biology. Like computer hackers, we can leverage a prior library of evolved code, assemblers and subsystems. Many of the radical applications lie outside of medicine.
At the Venter Institute, Craig Venter and Hamilton Smith are leading the Minimal Genome Project. They take the Mycoplasma genitalium from the human urogenital tract, and strip out 200 unnecessary genes, thereby creating a simple synthetic organism that can self-replicate (at about 300 genes). They plan to layer new functionality on to this artificial genome, by splicing cassettes of novel genes discovered in the oceans for energy conversion from sunlight. These synthetic cells have could be used for a variety of materials or energy applications, for example, to generate biofuels from the sun’s energy.
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