Artifical Life

[drumercalzone09]

Here is a very interesting article I found. If you don't feel like reading the whole thing, here's a summary.
Scientists are on the verge of being able to create artificial cells that can carry out all of the functions of life, in essence, they can create life.
My question is, do the benefits outweigh the moral objections?

...Here comes yet another surefire controversial scientific conquest: artificial life. It has been approximated by experts that in three to ten years' time, "wet artificial life" would have been made possible.

...Scientists are quick to point out that this would ultimately benefit man (who else) especially in finding potential solutions for all those problems hounding us, be it environmental (ie. containing greenhouse gases, getting rid of toxic waste) or conquering fatal diseases. However, it is to be expected that there will be major hurdles to overcome before the endeavor can prove to be a success:

• A container, or membrane, for the cell to keep bad molecules out, allow good ones, and the ability to multiply.
• A genetic system that controls the functions of the cell, enabling it to reproduce and mutate in response to environmental changes.
• A metabolism that extracts raw materials from the environment as food and then changes it into energy.

Says Mark Bedau, Protolife of Venice, Italy's CEO, "We're talking about a technology that could change our world in pretty fundamental ways -- in fact, in ways that are impossible to predict." ... "Creating protocells has the potential to shed new life on our place in the universe. This will remove one of the fundamental mysteries about creation in the universe and our role."

Things are still quite vague on the matter, and a lot of questions are only starting to form about it. But we are betting that this will spark another intriguing debate that could very well just outlast as all into the centuries and beyond.

Taken From [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

[Unknown001]

Originally Posted by drumercalzone09

Here is a very interesting article I found. If you don't feel like reading the whole thing, here's a summary.
Scientists are on the verge of being able to create artificial cells that can carry out all of the functions of life, in essence, they can create life.
My question is, do the benefits outweigh the moral objections?

Taken From QJ.net

let em do it, see how well it works out

[Darkatomz]

im not even gonna vote. i know that we have been taking huge technological leaps in the past decades, but i dont think we are even close to being able to do something like that.

[loca]

Agreed, we can't even land on Mars, but we can create artificial life. Pfft.

[Crawler]

Originally Posted by loca

Agreed, we can't even land on Mars, but we can create artificial life. Pfft.

I know what we really need are those Japanese super sex dolls lmao!!

[loca]

xD lmfao. I guess those can almost count as artificial life lmao.

[drumercalzone09]

The article says in 5-10 years.
It's not as complex as you think. It can just be DNA housed in some form of casing, with simple proteins inside it.

[Unknown001]

Originally Posted by drumercalzone09

The article says in 5-10 years.
It's not as complex as you think. It can just be DNA housed in some form of casing, with simple proteins inside it.

lol that reminds of that one futurama episode, where there professor took his back fat to make a clone of himself in a test tube

[Saki]

Originally Posted by loca

Agreed, we can't even land on Mars, but we can create artificial life. Pfft.

I find it really ignorant when someone does not know what they're remotely even talking about.

We can create artificial life but not land on mars? What the hell question is that? It's outer space, it's something entirely different to artificial life. It's like saying, I can make pizza, but I can't do a backflip.

[TheRedFox]

well selective breeding has commonly been introduced within the animals. i bet the decau guy would say "screw selective breeding im gona go create even better organisms with my test tube otherwise the mafia will shoot me" rather like a shortcut to selective breeding. to ban these methods is basicaly like giving someone a nuke and expect them not to blow something up. since we are able to do so there will always be a crackpot scientist willing to push methods like this