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Scientists create a virus that reproduces

zakur

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Scientists create a virus that reproduces

It is the stuff of science fiction and bioethical debates: The creation of artificial life. Up until now, it's largely been just that.

But an important technical bridge towards the creation of such life was crossed Thursday when genomics pioneer Craig Venter announced that his research group created an artificial virus based on a real one in just two weeks' time.

When researchers created a synthetic genome (genetic map) of the virus and implanted it into a cell, the virus became "biologically active," meaning it went to work reproducing itself.

[...]

The researchers chose to put the new technology into the public domain for all scientists to use. It will appear in the next few weeks on the Web site of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Paul C. Anagnostopoulos said:
And oh what a crap-storm this is going to start!

~~ Paul
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Er, yeah, but right after they make the cell that is "living". Viruses just hijack existing life -- unless of course a virus is "life"'; is it?
Is a prion? ... Is a quark?
 
hammegk said:


Er, yeah, but right after they make the cell that is "living". Viruses just hijack existing life -- unless of course a virus is "life"'; is it?
Is a prion? ... Is a quark?
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The answer, of course, is: continuum.
 
Paul C. Anagnostopoulos said:
And oh what a crap-storm this is going to start!

~~ Paul
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Wanna place bets on who'll be first barking about this? Fundies? Anti-GMers? Animal rights?
 
hammegk said:


Er, yeah, but right after they make the cell that is "living". Viruses just hijack existing life -- unless of course a virus is "life"'; is it?
Is a prion? ... Is a quark?
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How much more interesting your posts might be if you would define a term instead of just placing it in "quotes".
 
BillHoyt said:


The answer, of course, is: continuum.
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Does that mean you pick quark? Or something deeper still, say Higgs? Or are you really saying "emergent property"="goddidit"?



Quotes supplied so AP has something else to complain about.
 
hammegk said:
Does that mean you pick quark? Or something deeper still, say Higgs? Or are you really saying "emergent property"="goddidit"?

Quotes supplied so AP has something else to complain about.
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It means precisely what it says, hammy. The life/non-life demarcation line is a tough call. There is a continuum from reproducing molecules through multi-cellular organisms. I won't bother to dust off my Kreskin's Krystal Ball<sup>TM</sup> to predict that no matter what artificial life form is created, the fundies will always cry "but that isn't life." This will slowly change, however, as we get closer to the uncomfortable. Then the fundies will try to outlaw further efforts as "attempts to play god"

I don't know why you continue to have problems with the concept of "emergent property." I suggest you study systems theory a bit to get a better grounding in it. Otherwise, Clarke's law will still apply for you and you will not be able to distinguish between it and magic.
 
pfff!!! so what!? they used PCR to construct a very small viral genome. I dont know how big, anyone? Anyone can do that if they have the funds and some time to waste. By the way, IIRC this isnt the first time this has been done. Its just because that spawn of satan scumscrotum Venter did it.

BIG. FAT. HAIRY. WANK.

Now, if Venter had designed the virus from scratch, well then I'd be impressed.
 
Jon_in_london said:
Now, if Venter had designed the virus from scratch, well then I'd be impressed.
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Have to agree with Jon on this one. Venter didnt design the genome from scratch, he modeled it on pre-existing ones.
 
HopkinsMedStudent said:


Have to agree with Jon on this one. Venter didnt design the genome from scratch, he modeled it on pre-existing ones.
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Well, it's as impressive as the fact that science can also re-arrange genomes such that flies grow extra legs where the eyes had been, previously, "designed". ;)


BillHoyt: Debunking psi-waving charlatans pretending magic to be science is a valid pursuit. Using "science" to debunk what you don't understand (or wish to contemplate) is fraud.

Emergent Property, anyone? I don't recall Arthur getting into the science of that aspect. Grok?
 
I don´t particularly like the idea of creating new viruses. Call me paranoid, but I´m sure we could create a pretty terrifying desease one day if we really wanted to.
Don´t like it at all.
 
hammegk said:
Er, yeah, but right after they make the cell that is "living". Viruses just hijack existing life -- unless of course a virus is "life"'; is it?
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Well, as far as I know, viruses in biology are not considered "living". The smallest "living" biological units are called viroids (they are actually smaller than viruses).
 
hammegk said:
: Debunking psi-waving charlatans pretending magic to be science is a valid pursuit. Using "science" to debunk what you don't understand (or wish to contemplate) is fraud.

Emergent Property, anyone? I don't recall Arthur getting into the science of that aspect. Grok?
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You always did need a little salt. That and an understanding.
 
Well, once you determine what symbol you use and what it represents, then it encompasses everything that it represents. If you say that something has life when it has the genetic material needed to provide it with instuctions, then it is living when you synthesize the code needed for a virus. While a virus doesnt have the metabolism that most living things do, it still has the RNA or DNA telling it how to do what it does. (Im no biologist, nor have I even taken grade 11 bio, so I may be wrong)
 
Hmm, I remember seeing somewhere that something is alive if it can replicate/reproduce, particularly to do with genes. Viruses do that in spades.
 
Whether this is really creating life or not is kind of irrelevant. This is creating a virus. Combine that technology with a little creative splicing - a dab of rhinovirus, a touch of polio, a pinch of Spanish flue - and you don't really have to be all that original to create something really nasty. That kind of thing used to be science fiction. Now it seems to be closer to reality that just hasn't happened yet.

Oh well. No worries. I'm sure we can rely on the oft demonstrated restraint and good judgment of the human race to avoid any such unfortunate scenario. :rolleyes:
 
Eos of the Eons said:
Hmm, I remember seeing somewhere that something is alive if it can replicate/reproduce, particularly to do with genes. Viruses do that in spades.
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Eos,

That is often given as a definition, but it fails on close examination. Is a sterile animal not alive? I think they might beg to differ. At the other end of the scale, we now have several examples of artificially created, self-replicating molecules. Are they alive simply because they can reproduce themselves? Most observers would beg to differ here as well.
 
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