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Scientist foresees lab-made alien species
Online Reporter
Tuesday 08 Oct 2013 .
Dr Venter's company was the first to create synthetic life
The scientist who led the effort to map the human genome says we'll soon be able to use 3D printers
to create alien life forms right here on Earth.
to create alien life forms right here on Earth.
In his new book Life at the Speed of Light: From the Double Helix to the Dawn of Digital Life,
John Craig Venter says if a space probe encountered extra-terrestrial
life, it wouldn't necessarily need to bring it back to Earth for study.
"The day is not far off when we will be able to send
a robotically controlled genome sequencing unit to other planets to
read the DNA sequence of any alien microbe life that may be there,"
writes Dr Venter.
3 News
"If we can beam them back
to Earth we should be able to reconstruct their genomes. The synthetic
version of a Martian genome could then be used to recreate Martian life
on Earth."
If this is possible, says Dr Venter, so is the reverse – alien societies could use printers to make synthetic human beings.
to make synthetic human beings.
Another application
of constructing life in the lab would be making synthetic biofuels and
disease-resistant crops, as well as modifying human genes to extend
lifespans and increase brainpower.
of constructing life in the lab would be making synthetic biofuels and
disease-resistant crops, as well as modifying human genes to extend
lifespans and increase brainpower.
Dr Venter's
company was the first to create synthetic life, successfully implanting
lab-made DNA into a bacterial cell and getting it to reproduce.
"My greatest fear is not the abuse of technology but that we will not use it at all," he writes in the book.
Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Scientist-foresees-lab-made-alien-species/tabid/418/articleID/316329/Default.aspx#ixzz2qm0H3M98
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