Life created in laboratory. Where's your messiah now?

published Jun 16, 2008, last modified Jun 26, 2013

It was bound to happen some day. And that day has arrived. A group of scientists at Harvard claim a breakthrough in life engineering:

If it sounds hideously unlikely, be aware that some Harvard researchers, including Harvard Medical School's Jack Szostak, have managed exactly that. Mixing some fatty acids and DNA in a test tube of water, they found that the lipid molecules formed a crude ring around the information-rich core. Even more strikingly, nucleotides added to the solution successfully entered the cell and replicated the DNA within a day. We can only hope the scientist took this chance to raise the test tube and cry "In my hand I hold the secret to LIFE ITSELF!", triggering dramatic lightning strikes and thunder in the background.

Artificial natural life. Not the kind where you transplant ADN from one cell to another. Not the kind where you manipulate stem cells. The kind where you create the cell and its genetic coding from building blocks.

And the world continues to not need gods and ghosts.