Synthetic biology refers to the ability to manipulate organisms like interchangeable Lego pieces. What was once science fiction is now reality. Synthetic biology is incredibly potent. It has the potential to heal but also the power to destroy. The question is whether it will usher in a new era for humanity or end up as another example of a promising technology that is used to inflict harm.

The prospect of creating life in the laboratory is as fascinating as it is terrifying. Will we really be able to modify the genetic code of a living creature to mold it to our design? Will we be able to assemble different bits of living creatures to create a new one? 

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The prospect of creating life in the laboratory is as fascinating as it is terrifying. Will we really be able to modify the genetic code of a living creature to mold it to our design? Will we be able to assemble different bits of living creatures to create a new one? 

The game of life
A few years back, J. Craig Venter announced the creation of a living, self-reproducing bacterial cell with a DNA sequence produced in the laboratory. According to Laurie Garrett’s 2013 article for Foreign Affairs about this experiment, the creature “moved, ate, breathed, and replicated itself.” Garrett quotes from an older interview with Venter from 2009: “There’s not a single aspect of human life that doesn’t have the potential to be totally transformed by these technologies in the future.”

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Big Think, 22.09.21

https://bigthink.com/13-8/synthetic-bioalogy-cure-kill-power/