Science making something out of nothing

The Guardian reports that maverick scientist Craig Venter is close to creating the earth's "first new artificial life form" - a synthetic chromosome built of laboratory chemicals and cleverly nicknamed "Synthia."

Venter and his team manipulated existing DNA to create the chromosome, which they will soon try to transplant into a living cell. The Guardian called the development "a giant leap forward," but Pat Mooney, director of a Canadian bioethics organization, called it "a wake-up call," asking for a debate on what it means to "create new life forms in a test tube."

C. Ben Mitchell, director of the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, told WoW the rhetoric is overblown: "He has not in fact created life. He has not created something out of nothing. … He's just manipulated existing life forms." Venter spokesperson Heather Kowalski told the AFP that the Guardians' announcement is premature, and the team is months away from publishing their results.

And while Venter said he believes he is doing "good science," Mitchell said he has reservations based on Venter's reputation as a "scientific hot shot" who "routinely operates outside the boundaries of ethical science." Venter has tried to patent gene parts as inventions, and he introduced his own genetic material into the mapping of the human genome without other scientists' knowledge or consent - a move that Mitchell said "violates the canon of science."

Mitchell said actions like this risk breaking trust with the public, "who support the science … who embrace or resist new medicines or new therapies." Mitchell said he knows of no ethical violations in the creation of Synthia, but he will rest more easily when he sees a peer-reviewed publication of Venter's results. "It's certainly a development," Mitchell said. "Whether we want to call it an advance … we'll have to wait and see."