Princeton Researchers Construct Wholly Artificial Proteins That Can Sustain Cell Life

Super incurable artificial viruses.. here we come.This is potentially everything, good and evil.

I fear that the christian fundies will only see this in two ways:

1) blasphemy
2) proof of god, since he "made us in his image" and he also made life... and now we've made life too...

*awaits the sh1tstorm*

"Super incurable artificial viruses"

Oh brother. Sounds like my grandfather.

I am not religious but messing with DNA and other things at the cellular level scare me... A lot. Yes a super disease could be created but if we can create it we can destroy it. What I am more worried about the the gap between the rich and the poor in the world. If regulations are not set then in the future the wealthy could afford to have their children automatically have higher intelligence as well as other things automatically from genetic engineering. The rich children will have a clear advantage over the poor children for success in life. I fear that this could easily create two or more species of humans. Now if there is more than one species of humans, what is stopping the more advanced species from treating the more primitive species like all other animals on the planet.

Btw on a side note. Thanks popsci for getting rid of the spam and also the annoying rollover ads.

PLAYING GOD IS GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's why I want to be a Genetic Engineer.

I didn't read the article before posting that comment.

I'm practicing making opinions before there is any real evidence.

I think this is proof of intelligent life elsewhere in universe for the simple idea that this is probably how we got here.

If we're smart enough to build life sustaining elements, what's to stop us from putting it on distant planets and seeing which ones spring up, LIKELY the same way some other race put us here.

Just a theory.

We're not that old nor that advanced, so if we have these tricks, what other beings do too...?

@bob clemintime and why is that a bad thing? I would very much like to be able to "create" my child with success build in, no worries about psychological problems, all scrap DNA out of the way, I don't so much care about eye colour and such stuff but if I can have my child to be able to understand math, physics, be sociable, etc from the start oh I WILL! If I can afford it and if there is one thing that is worth taking a loan is the health and success of one's offsprings. The thing is though that since the '40s and Nazis this has been ethically banned, since Hitler was doing much the same thing, obviously they didn't then have this kind of tech, but simply any child that didn't fit his profile of a arian race model got.... removed...
In other note this kind of DNA manipulation along with other techs like brain mapping and understanding could very well end all mental diseases in the near future.

Scientific research of any kind is not a bad thing, how that research is applied must be regulated not according to any religious belief, since god simply does not exist, but much to how it can aid and help humanity in a whole.

P.s much the same techs are used in pre-birth control now to remove serious illness like anemia, and predisposition to cancer (amongst others)...

There is no good and evil, only how we perceive the environment around us and how that environment effects us.

Two words... Zombie Apocalypse ;)

Bob --

I think you have semi-valid concerns. But, think about what usually comes with higher intelligence? More often, said individuals will have a greater understanding of science and evolution. If you understand evolution at all, then you understand just how petty our differences are ... such as race, social status, and the geographical circumstances one happens to be born into.

I would like to think that a race of super-humans would have a great deal more refined of an altruistic sense on life and understand that its through mutual progress and corporation that we *all* succeed (as a species.)

It isn't science we should fear. Its loosing sense of the fact we all share responsibility within the human condition. If we didn't ... we never would have gotten this far.

I meant to say "cooperation"

Ha, must have been a freudian slip

so mr. military industrial complex isn't satisfied with HTLV-3 and cancer causing viruses they want to make diseases that mankind will have no natural defense against. go capitalism!

One problem I have with eugenics is that if you aren't careful and limit all genetic dieseases, psychological disease etc, you are limiting genetic diversity that may very well be desirable for survival in the far future, particularly the psychological diseases.... not everyone with the genetic predisposition to have some of these diseases has it, and the different thinking can be an advantage. In addition physical diseases are often adaptation's agaisnt other killing diseases, a few examples: sickle cell anemia - malaria ; diabetes - freezing(think ice ages (the sugar acts as an antifreeze)) ; hemochromatosis - the plague (the iron needed for the white blood cells resides in the plasma with people for this disease - it starves the plague which needs the iron to be directly in the cells. the white blood cells pick it up from the plasma as needed) ; near-sightness - watchmakers (needed in times of low tech(and don't say it's not possible)) ; and the list goes on. just thinking of the long term. Eliminating all possible defects eliminates the kind of variety that makes us unique and adaptable. just thinking long term.

First of all, thank goodness for the anti-spam measures!

@bob clementine a future where those who have the means to give their children a genetic advantage is inevitable. Some of them would even see it as a sign of bad parenting to deny their children every advantage in life especially if they could afford it.

There's no need to ask *if* there will be genetically engineered children with enhanced physiology and mental abilities you only need to ask *when.*

On a side note, if it's so sure the this achievement will "draw ire from the 'playing God' argument" why mention it? It would be nice to just stick to the science because I can get my religious speculation and commentary elsewhere.

Why does anyone inject the "playing god" argument in general?

Everything is playing god. Going to the doctor, taking preventive medicine, intervening in anyway to your personal health is playing god.

Seems the religious simply want to have their cake and eat it to. "God has a plan for us. God, although he created us 'sick,' did so in his own image. But, bring that perfect baby over here we must cut his genitalia .... there, now he's perfect!"

When good things happen, well that's god's plan. When bad things happen, well we need to fend for ourselves and secure our own survival ... but, that to is god's plan. The lord works in mysterious was in deed.

Why people feel the need to jump through such intellectual hoops is beyond me.

nicholas is right on the money with anti-eugenics points.

The only thing we can strive for to ensure the survival of our species is genetic diversity.

This keeps us flexible as a species, able to adapt to a changing environment.

If we make ourselves inflexible as a species, the environment will change and we'll all go the way of the Mammoth.

That's why smart (and rich) parents WON'T be breeding their kids for "perfection" but will do it the old fashioned way.

Just take a look at "perfect" pure breeds of dogs, and then research all of the problems they have in comparison to mutts.

"Playing God?" Ha! "Playing in the sandbox God gave us." would be closer to the point. The "playing God" argument is really only a rhetoric game played by the 'non-religious' (laughable idea, I know) folk who are trying to find justification for their opposition of theist....and of course all the naive theists who they trick into playing along.

It's not an issue of 'playing God', it's an issue of stewardship.

wasn't this done in 2010 with the blue bacteria with completely artificial genome?

artificial proteins... wonder if they can make new organelles in the cell to sustain cool x-men'ish powers!
of course I'm dreaming!

Interesting though, has great implications in mathematics to study the effect of chaos in terms of how including a new protein changes and interacts with the existing ones and how new behaviors emerge.

Also could target some really potentially lethal genetic diseases to create proteins counteracting the anomaly in the gene.

Most important, we now realize that we can make our own proteins that does not occur naturally and sustain it in the cell.

Almost forgot,
Genetically include the "engineered DRUG synthesizing" DNA to counteract possible turn on's of those genes that lead to cancer and other diseases.

I love this. We can now type in completely synthetic gene sequences and, within one or two days, have fully viable proteins. All we need to do now is find the right combination of these synthetic proteins, and we'll be able to literally type out a living organism.

Amazing how quickly technology is progressing. I just wish it was happening out in the mainstream (i.e. "real world") instead of being confined to media outlets like PopSci and Gizmodo where they tend to stay for long periods of time.

On an unrelated note:

@bob clementime: I actually created a very simple, user-friendly Javascript code that anyone can copy/paste into their address bar to bypass the current CAPTCHA method for PopSci.com. Basically, I've created a way for the spammers to return. I E-Mailed the webmaster about it as a warning, but have received no response; I may soon just sell it to the highest bidder :P .

-IMP ;) :)