Is it really possible to create something, from nothing? Well, we’re getting closer. The recent work of genetics pioneer Craig Venter unveiled the possibility of genetically engineering a self-replicating cell from essentially scratch. While the benefits of this capability are as far reaching from curing disease, to regenerating limbs, and producing alternative bio-energies – it is as equally a scary thing to think about.

Since the dawn of humanity, the question of our origins has been at the root of scientific and religious practices around the world. Is Venter’s discovery ‘life’? According to the Vatican, no it isn’t – but then do they dispute that bacteria are ‘alive’? The point is, we now have to define ‘life’, and the repercussions of this could have global implications.

Image via Wikipedia‘Life’ itself is blanketed by spirituality, which is a safeguard for that which we do not (yet) understand. This is sacred in some form or fashion for every individual on Planet Earth – from the devoutly religious to atheists.

At what point did ‘life’ come to exist? We are on our way to understanding for certain with this new discovery. Evolution argues that all life on Planet Earth evolved from some primordial ooze billions of years ago. In many ways, this is exactly what Venter created in his lab. With the ability to manipulate how genes are expressed, living things may indeed be brought to be from a test tube. But the bigger question concerns human ‘life’. Unquestionably, ‘life’ is the product of some higher power intervening with the musings here Planet Earth to grant free will and higher consciousness with a destiny to learn and understand. God(s), aliens, its all there for the unveiling, and only time will tell.

In the meantime, can we control the direction of human evolution? Is it our right to do so, and what is the best direction to take? These decisions may very well be best left to fate, natural selection, or what have you. However undoubtedly, it will have ties to a new life in the sea.

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• You: 5 Implications of Venter’s Synthetic Life Form (newsweek.com)
• Craig Venter is not playing God yet (guardian.co.uk)
• Vatican calls synthetic cell creation ‘interesting’ (cnn.com)
• Scientist Creates Life. That’s a Good Thing, Right? (time.com)
• Scientist: ‘We didn’t create life from scratch’ (cnn.com)
• Synthetic Bacterial Genome Takes Over Cell (nytimes.com)