If you are a fan of Jurassic Park, there is one immoral line uttered by Jeff Goldblum’s scientist character: “Life finds a way”. Indeed, given the tiniest chance, life will find a way to flourish, even in very harsh environments.
Life as we know it today is a result of evolution. All life forms are believed to have evolved from a very simple life form born in a primordial soup of an early Earth. Man is the most complex life form on our planet, but there are countless other intelligent and not-so-intelligent life forms out there. In fact, we are yet to discover millions of new species, especially in our oceans. At the heart of every living organism lies the molecule DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the basic building block of life. The DNA code of all living organisms is made up of four base “letters” which pair up to form a double helix: G, T, C, A.
Jurassic Park is famous for one other memorable sequence which shows how dinosaur DNA is extracted from amber and used to recreate living, breathing dinosaurs. We are not exactly there yet, but scientists have not ruled out the possibility of bringing back extinct organisms through DNA manipulation. In the meantime, scientists have been quite successful in genetically manipulating many animals and plants. DNA engineering is very much here to stay. What if one day hereditary diseases can be eliminated by genetic intervention? It will be a great benefit of genetic engineering. On the other hand, will scientists be able to create evil organisms through a similar approach?
Indeed, scientists have now managed to create a little bit of life in the laboratory. It is not quite “life” yet, but we are getting there. For the first time, “semi-synthetic” bacteria with an expanded six-letter genetic code have been successfully engineered by scientists. These findings could lay the foundations for efforts “to impart life with new forms and functions”, the researchers said in their report.
Modified microbes
In the report published on Monday, the scientists describe the modified microbes as a starting point for efforts to “create organisms with wholly unnatural attributes and traits not found elsewhere in nature.” The cells constitute a “stable form of semi-synthetic life” and “lay the foundation for achieving the central goal of synthetic biology: the creation of new life forms and functions,” they added.
The Escherichia coli bacteria created in the lab by the researchers contains a new synthetic pair made up of two bases called X and Y. The semi-synthetic organism was able to keep the X and Y base pair after dividing 60 times, leading researchers to believe the bacteria could hold onto the synthetic pair indefinitely. The team from the Scripps Research Institute in California said this was only the beginning for stable forms of semi-synthetic life.
“We can now get the light of life to stay on,” senior author Professor Floyd Romesberg said. This is no doubt a great impetus to life, but his next sentence as reported in the scientific press is a bit more chilling. “This suggests that all of life’s processes can be subject to manipulation. If the semi-synthetic organism is going to really be an organism, it has to be able to stably maintain that information,” Professor Romesberg said. They have worked for a few years on modifying the E. coli to hold onto the synthetic pair indefinitely.
But should we be worried that scientists will be able create bizarre new life forms? It is a long- long time away and there is no need to worry just yet. Professor Romesberg says these molecules have not been designed to work in complex organisms, such as cats or humans. But he says the “real power” of the approach would be in making microbes that carried multiple artificial DNA bases, or even a completely human-designed synthetic genome, which the study suggested was at least possible in principle.
However, actual applications for the synthetic base pair are zero — organisms can’t currently read or process the base pair into something of value, such as eyes or muscles. It does however prove the concept of life forms being able to take on and keep “alien” bases.
The next step will be to study how the six-letter genetic code can be transcribed into RNA (ribonucleic acid), the molecule in cells needed to translate DNA into proteins. Far from creating new life forms, one of the first applications of the technology will be improving on the technique to hopefully engineer bacteria that can produce new kinds of proteins useful for medicines and materials of the future. It will be a cross between the animated and the non-animated. People are already talking of biocomputers and other similar concepts and this breakthrough points the way.
Advanced research
As the researchers pointed out, people panic every time this kind of breakthrough is announced, with newspaper headlines blaring “scientists create artificial life”. But from the perspective of scientists, this type of advanced research is essential for the very existence of humanity. Romesberg says it is important for science to be explained to help “eliminate the fear of the unknown”, adding: “the benefits need to be weighed against the potential costs, and in this case the benefits include new and better drugs.” There cannot be any complaints on that score. Science is usually a force that does good and this case is no exception.
Nevertheless, fears have been raised that such technologies can be used to create hybrid “Frankenstein” creatures. Just last week, it was reported that mice were turned into Walking Dead-like zombie killers by turning on a light that activated specific brain cells associated with hunting. The researchers found that firing one set of neurons prompted the mouse to pursue its prey, while doing the same to another set caused the animal to bite and kill its target. The scientists, from Yale University in the US and other institutions in China and Brazil, managed to turn them into killing machines using a technique called optogenetics. This allowed them to activate specific brain cells using a laser.
Also last week, it was reported that a modern day Dr Frankenstein has managed to create a range of strange creatures, including tadpoles with eyes located on their backs, and frogs with six legs. The creator of these exotic creatures, Dr Michael Levin wants to re-wire humans so they can re-grow limbs just like Frankenstein. In an interview with Popular Science, he told how the research could help soldiers re-grow arms on the battlefield.
As these examples show, there clearly are two sides to this coin - some possibilities are very useful while others are terrifying. The authorities have to regulate this industry so that only beneficial results will emerge.