Did Scientists Create Artificial Life?
by
Bhaktivedanta Institute
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Sripad Bhakti Madhava Puri Maharaja, Ph.D. from Bhaktivedanta Institute discussed this topic on 2nd March 2008 in one of the weekly online Skype meetings (to join online Skype meeting please add our Skype ID: sushen_das to your Skype address list). We have prepared a video presentation from the online audio discussion as a response to this question.
The video presentation can be found at: http://www.archive.org/details/ArtificialLife
Download the video at
http://www.archive.org/download/ArtificialLife/DidScientistsCreateArtificialLife.wmv
J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) first synthesized and assembled the synthetic version of the M. genitalium chromosome by resequencing the native M. genitalium genome. After that, they produced the specially designed fragments of chemically synthesized DNA to build 101 “cassettes” of 5,000 to 7,000 base pairs of genetic code. They have followed five step assembly process to synthesize M. genitalium.
M. genitalium
It is mentioned in Science Daily News
(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080124175924.htm) that “From here, the team devised a five stage assembly process where the cassettes were joined together in subassemblies to make larger and larger pieces that would eventually be combined to build the whole synthetic M. genitalium genome. In the first step, sets of four cassettes were joined to create 25 subassemblies, each about 24,000 base pairs (24kb). These 24kb fragments were cloned into the bacterium Escherichia coli to produce sufficient DNA for the next steps, and for DNA sequence validation.
The next step involved combining three 24kb fragments together to create 8 assembled blocks, each about 72,000 base pairs. These 1/8th fragments of the whole genome were again cloned into E. coli for DNA production and DNA sequencing. Step three involved combining two 1/8th fragments together to produce large fragments approximately 144,000 base pairs or 1/4th of the whole genome.
At this stage the team could not obtain half genome clones in E. coli, so the team experimented with yeast and found that it tolerated the large foreign DNA molecules well, and that they were able to assemble the fragments together by homologous recombination. This process was used to assemble the last cassettes, from 1/4 genome fragments to the final genome of more than 580,000 base pairs. The final chromosome was again sequenced in order to validate the complete accurate chemical structure.
The synthetic M. genitalium has a molecular weight of 360,110 kilodaltons (kDa). Printed in 10 point font, the letters of the M. genitalium JCVI-1.0 genome span 147 pages.
“This is an exciting advance for our team and the field. However, we continue to work toward the ultimate goal of inserting the synthetic chromosome into a cell and booting it up to create the first synthetic organism,” said Dan Gibson, lead author.”
The claims made by J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) sounds very exciting, in News columns but the reality is that they are presenting only the old news. In this connection Dr. T. D. Singh, founder director of Bhakivedanta Institute, attended a lecture on the origin of life by the world-renowned reductionist, Professor Stanley Miller. Dr. T. D. Singh asked Professor Stanley Miller during the question and answer session, "Suppose I were to give you all of the ready made bio-molecules -- DNA, proteins, lipids, sugars, etc. -- would you be able to produce life within a test-tube by combining these molecules?" Professor Miller replied, "That I don't know."
DNA is not life.
We know that DNA is a dead matter and is not life. The dead matter follows the laws of physics and chemistry which modern science has figured out. But life and the body that has life violate the laws of physics and chemistry. We can take a simple example: it is possible to accurately predict the projectile motion of a dead bird by utilizing the laws of mechanics, but we have no way to predict the motion of a living bird by any mathematical law.
Scientists have to think seriously that whether it is possible to produce life (which is transcendental to the laws of physics and chemistry) from a dead matter (which follows the laws of physics and chemistry). Louis Pasteur made a similar argument, “How do you know that the incessant progress of science will not compel scientists ... to consider that life has existed during eternity, and not matter? ... How do you know that in 10,000 years one will not consider it more likely that matter has emerged from life?”
To study life we have the department of Biology. However, the present Biology seems to be focusing only on the physics and chemistry of the body of a living being. Consciousness is the prime symptom of a living body that is absent in dead body/matter. We have to study that element (living being or soul), which is making a body living or dead. Hence, we have to make a serious examination to the present Biological studies to make a distinction between Department of Biology and Department of Physics/Chemistry.
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