Frankenbugs: Science in the Headlines

Skapad:

2010-05-31

Senast uppdaterad:

2022-01-10

It is not often that science is the headline news item but the creation of the first synthetic organism has dominated the worldwide news these past weeks.

These synthetic bacterium, created by American biologists Craig Venter and Hamilton Smith, have already been dubbed “Frankenbugs” and have been greeted with some not unpredictable outrage from certain corners. There have been accusations of “playing God”, along with many terrifying predictions of the potential creation of artificial plants, animals and perhaps humans in the future.

This technology has great potential in the development of greener fuels, drought resistant crops and better drugs. There are also some very major ethical and technological concerns to be addressed.

So far the debate reminds me very much of the one surrounding GM crops over the last decade. I only hope that the science community rises to the challenge of giving the “Frankenbugs” a fairer hearing than “Frankenfoods” have since the 1990s.

Some reports of the breakthrough:

The Economist

The BBC

The Boston Globe

Le Monde

The Times (London)

Esther Crooks

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Vetenskap & Allmänhet

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