# Synthetic cells! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 20, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173 "2010-05-20T20:05:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/1 "2010-05-20T20:05:49Z")
I just did a search so I apologize if there’s already a thread on this. Apparently, we’ve created life! ['Artificial life' breakthrough announced by scientists - BBC News](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10132762.stm) I mean, it’s just a couple cells, but I feel like that must be the hardest part, since we already know about toolkit genes and where to find them. I’ve been wondering for a while how viable this was, and I’m excited to see what emerges from this. What are everyone else’s thoughts? Biologists, is this actually as cool as this BBC article is making it sound? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/2 "2010-05-20T20:13:27Z")
I think that at this point, we are all supposed to cackle madly, and break out in the Charles Atlas song. Also, really bad special effects are supposed to happen. In other words, yeah, this is really, really cool. Now where’s my artificial pancreas? ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/3 "2010-05-20T20:19:36Z")
Say what you will about Craig Venter personally (and there is a lot to say, not much of it positive), the guy is following through on what he set out to accomplish. Very exciting stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/4 "2010-05-20T21:20:00Z")
Neither mundane nor pointless, but something I must share. Sadly not a robot chimp, but a [bacteria cell using synthetic DNA.](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/science_and_environment/10132762.stm) What a world we live in, like living in Newton’s time when he came up with Newtonian Mechanics, the first artificial life. Just bacterium to start with, but where will it end? Growing synthetic stem cells, or entire new organs? It boggles the mind. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/5 "2010-05-20T21:25:12Z")
Not quite– > [@](#): > > Now, the scientists have put both methods together, to create what they call a “synthetic cell”, although only its genome is truly synthetic. > > Dr Venter likened the advance to making new software for the cell. Also, I don’t believe they created mitochrondrial DNA. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/6 "2010-05-20T21:28:49Z")
Mm, but the genome is rather an important part; this is the first time we’ve been able to artificially create a cell; > [@](#): > > Dr Venter told BBC News: "We’ve now been able to take our synthetic chromosome and transplant it into a recipient cell - a different organism. > > “As soon as this new software goes into the cell, the cell reads [it] and converts into the species specified in that genetic code.” > > The new bacteria replicated over a billion times, producing copies that contained and were controlled by the constructed, synthetic DNA. > > “This is the first time any synthetic DNA has been in complete control of a cell,” said Dr Venter. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/7 "2010-05-20T21:31:01Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I think that at this point, we are all supposed to cackle madly, and break out in the Charles Atlas song. Also, really bad special effects are supposed to happen. Increase the Flash Gordon noise and put more science stuff around! This is hella cool. (But I’m sure Intelligent Design science could have achieved the same in a few years.) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/8 "2010-05-20T21:34:11Z")
Damn, apparently I should have done a search! Guess my enthusiasm got the better of me. An incredibly exiting breakthrough. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/9 "2010-05-20T21:37:06Z")
Just seen that there’s [already a thread on this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=563948) which I missed. Doesn’t seem much point in having 2 threads on the same story - mods, could I request a lock? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/10 "2010-05-20T21:42:50Z")
Heh - it’s funny when you say you did a search and the other thread is right above yours. 😃 ETA: Or below yours, as the case may be. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/11 "2010-05-20T22:09:34Z")
How about a merge? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/12 "2010-05-20T23:07:13Z")
Two threads on the topic merged – **Holy hell, scientists make artificial life!** and **Synthetic cells!**. **Ellen Cherry Unsynthetic Moderator** ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/13 "2010-05-21T05:40:41Z")
Was a Tesla Coil at all involved? ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/14 "2010-05-21T06:21:44Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Not quite– > > Also, I don’t believe they created mitochrondrial DNA. Heh, you take the time to go and build a synthetic Prokaryote, and already they’re out there asking for a Eukaryote! You just can’t please some people! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/15 "2010-05-21T06:33:27Z")
I have no idea at all about the background of this guy, but the very phrase, “The team was led by Dr Craig Venter of the J Craig Venter Institute”, sets off my spidey bullshit alarm bells. Could he be the same guy who’s live 70 years with neither food nor water? ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/16 "2010-05-21T06:51:25Z")
Not quite. From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Venter): > [@](#): > > Human Genome Project > > Venter was passionate about the power of genomics to radically transform healthcare. Venter believed that shotgun sequencing was the fastest and most effective way to get useful human genome data.[10] The method was controversial, however, since some geneticists felt it would not be accurate enough for a genome as complicated as the human.[11][not in citation given] Frustrated with what Venter viewed as the slow pace of progress in the Human Genome project, and unable to get funds for his ideas, he sought funding from the private sector to found Celera Genomics. The goal of the company was to sequence the entire human genome and release it into the public domain for non-commercial use in much less time and for much less cost than the public human genome project. The company planned to monetize their work by creating a value added database of genomic data that users could subscribe to for a fee. The goal consequently put pressure on the public genome program and spurred several groups to redouble their efforts to produce the full sequence. DNA from five demographically different individuals was used by Celera to generate the sequence of the human genome; one of them being Venter. In 2000, Venter and Francis Collins of the National Institute of Health and U.S. Public Genome Project jointly made the announcement of the mapping of the human genome in 2000, a full three years ahead of the expected end of the Public Genome Program. The announcement was made along with US President Bill Clinton, and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.[12] Venter and Collins thus shared an award for “Biography of the Year” from A&E Network.[13] Celera published the first Human Genome in the Journal Science, and was soon followed by a Human Genome Project Publication in Nature.[14][15] Despite some claims that shotgun sequencing was in some ways less accurate than the clone-by-clone method chosen by the Human Genome Project,[16] the technique became widely accepted by the scientific community and is still used today. Basically, he’s the guy who basically got pissed off at the Human Genome Project for being too slow, founded his own private company to decode the human genome with a “riskier” method at the time, decided to make all the information public domain along the way, and used his own DNA for it, and then ended up helping to beat the Human Genome Project by 3 years at decoding it. He’s basically like the Tony Stark of the Biology world, hated for his brash methods and yet respected by many other scientists for his contributions to the field. Last I had heard about what he was up to, he was described as basically using his private **yatch** sloop _Sorcerer II_\* to go around the world collecting water samples and shotgun sequences the microbes in there, and basically “discovering” new lifeforms from all over the world without really following up as much on it, by just sequencing everything and noting where ever there was a new DNA sequence found, and basically getting credit for it (of course this was told to me by a very biased friend, but I’m just amused by that summary). I particularly like that image- he’s the rogue scientist, the Tony Stark of Biology, who beat the government at their own game, and thus the J Craig Venture institute. \*You can’t make this shit up… ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/17 "2010-05-21T07:11:57Z")
> [@ToeJam](#): > > Not quite. > From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Venter): > Basically, he’s the guy who basically got pissed off at the Human Genome Project for being too slow, founded his own private company to decode the human genome with a “riskier” method at the time, **decided to make all the information public domain along the way** , and used his own DNA for it, **and then ended up helping to beat the Human Genome Project by 3 years at decoding it.** That’s not right at all mate - 180 degrees wrong. Celera specifically set out to claim gene sequences as IP, they did the exact opposite of making the information public domain. This is in part the reason why there is great antipathy towards Venter. They also did not beat the publicly-funded project by 3 years, both drafts of the genome were published contemporaneously. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/18 "2010-05-21T07:48:08Z")
> [@The\_Scrivener](#): > > Was a Tesla Coil at all involved? I believe that Tesla coils are mandatory in this sort of venture, for the proper atmosphere even if they’re not vital components of equipment. I get this knowledge from all the bad sci-fi movies I’ve watched. And I’m a woman who draws a sharp distinction between science fiction and sci-fi. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/19 "2010-05-21T11:26:37Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > That’s not right at all mate - 180 degrees wrong. Celera specifically set out to claim gene sequences as IP, they did the exact opposite of making the information public domain. This is in part the reason why there is great antipathy towards Venter. They also did not beat the publicly-funded project by 3 years, both drafts of the genome were published contemporaneously. Venter is also a first-class megalomaniacal asshole who pisses off everyone he comes in contact with. I am good friends with many former Celera and TIGR (The Institute for Genome Research) personnel - there were many unpublicized reasons (that I won’t go into on a public message board) why Venter left Celera, and why TIGR imploded. None of this detracts from Venter’s qualifications as a scientist. His personality, while detrimental to many of the people around him, is one of the qualities driving his scientific achievements. Isaac Newton was a right bastard by all accounts as well. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173/20 "2010-05-24T15:47:03Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > (But I’m sure Intelligent Design science could have achieved the same in a few years.) It just did. After all, this was only possible with an intelligent designer or a team thereof working at it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/synthetic-cells/540173.md?page=2)