Say Hello To Cynthia

This is equally scary and intriguing at the same time…does it raise the possibility that we too might have been created by a computer?

Cynthia, the world's first synthetic lifeform

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8695862.stm

So far, our efforts to create life have been a bit ad-hoc…splicing a bit here, insert a bit there, basically tinkering with what already exists.

But this is different. This one you can design from scratch, email it across and watch the printout get up and walk out of the room. Ok, that is unrealistic for now…but given enough time it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch.

Remember, Craig Venter was the man who first mapped the human genome. So he has the launch codes. The point is, you can experiment with far greater precision if you have control over all the DNA, so making progress towards whatever organism you desire is likely to be much faster now. 

Click here to hear the whole press conference where Craig describes how his team achieved this milestone. 

Maybe we are part of a cascading Matrushka Doll God concept…where a species on one planet creates the species on another. It’s a distinct reality now: a group of astronauts could take Cynthia’s tailor-made descendents to Mars and let them evolve over a few million years. Then the sentient lifeforms that evolve will sit there pondering who they are and why they are there…until they develop the technology to repeat the process…I wonder if we would still be around?

Looks like Pandora’s box is now open for business…