Synthetic Biology on the Loose!

As biotechnology advances, so do the safety issues. Synthetic biology poses additional threats to public health and safety as biocontainment in private companies remains unregulated.

Craig Venter and company have built the genome of a bacterium from scratch and incorporated it into a cell to make what they call the world's first synthetic life form. Although this is a startling scientific advancement with ethical and safety issues, Ventor naturally downplays safety risks. For more on this story see this link with a great video: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/may/20/craig-venter-synthetic-life-form.

See also:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/20100521_First_lab-created_organism_raises_ethical_questions.html#axzz0oXwzHZSL

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2010/05/21/MN4V1DI027.DTL

http://www.jcvi.org/cms/research/projects/first-self-replicating-synthetic-bacterial-cell/overview/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/science/21cell.html?hpw