'Artificial life' breakthrough announced by scientists

by GD Thu 20 May 2010, 10:01 pm

The synthetic cell looks identical to the 'wild type'

Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first synthetic living cell.
The researchers constructed a bacterium's "genetic software" and transplanted it into a host cell.
The resulting microbe then looked and behaved like the species "dictated" by the synthetic DNA.
The advance, published in Science, has been hailed as a scientific landmark, but critics say there are dangers posed by synthetic organisms. (from BBC)

The start of changing the natural world..