by Roger Highfield/ The Age/ June 10, 2007
THE US scientist who cracked the human genome is poised to create the world's first man-made species, a synthetic microbe that could lead to an endless supply of biofuel.
Craig Venter has applied for a patent at more than 100 national offices to make a bacterium from laboratory-made DNA.
It is part of an effort to create designer bugs to manufacture hydrogen and biofuels, as well as absorb carbon dioxide and other harmful greenhouse gases.
...
The Canadian ETC Group, which tracks developments in biotechnology, believes that this development is more significant than the cloning of Dolly the sheep a decade ago.
On Wednesday, ETC spokesman Jim Thomas called on the world's patent offices to reject the applications. He said: "These monopoly claims signal the start of a high-stakes commercial race to synthesise and privatise synthetic life forms. Will Venter's company become the 'Microbesoft' of synthetic biology?"
A colleague, Pat Mooney, said: "For the first time, God has
competition. Venter and his colleagues have breached a societal
boundary, and the public hasn't even had a chance to debate the
far-reaching social, ethical and environmental implications of
synthetic life."
...
Dr Venter's institute claims that its stripped-down microbe
could be the key to cheap energy production. The patent application
claims an organism that can make either hydrogen or ethanol for
industrial fuels.
TELEGRAPH
Article link
[OT but had to post it since it shows to what great risks are people willing to go to provide cheap energy. Would it not be safer and easier to examine first the vacuum energy technologies already claimed to exists? ... Vlad]
