US Scientist To Announce 'Artificial Life' Breakthrough

From PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news:

Celebrity US scientist Craig Venter has built a synthetic chromosome using chemicals made in a laboratory, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported Saturday. A Venter spokeswoman however declined to confirm any breakthrough. "The Guardian is ahead of themselves on this," Venter spokeswoman Heather Kowalski told AFP. "We have not achieved what some have speculated we have in synthetic life," Kowalski said. "When we do so there will be a scientific publication and we are likely months away from that." Venter however told The Guardian that he is to announce the discovery within weeks and could possibly unveil it as early as Monday. The breakthrough, which Venter hopes could help develop new energy sources to combat global warming, would be "a very important philosophical step in the history of our species," he told the newspaper. "We are going from reading our genetic code to the ability to write it. That gives us the hypothetical ability to do things never contemplated before," he added.

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