(May 21, 2010 at 3:28 am)The_Flying_Skeptic Wrote: wow... this is serious. this is probably one of the greatest achievements in biology in a long time, even having theological implications, and you think the semantics aren't important? If you can't admit the confusion that may be caused by not clarifying the difference between partially synthetic and entirely synthetic life, you are the one being stupid.Oh it's serious? Really? So why the immature jibes asking if I'm "drunk"? I was being serious; you weren't, hence why I said I had nothing more to say.
I didn't need to clarify anything; my original post made it all clear. They created an organism from scratch (i.e. the genetic code).
Quote:already, atheists on this thread have made misleading exaggerations on how this new information may be used: 'now i can answer that pesky question: have your scientists created life?' 'God = man' We need to prepare ourselves for the reality creationists will learn: they have not created life and as Tiberius agrees with me - the experiment has little to nothing to do with abiogenesis.Creating life and abiogenesis are two different things. Abiogenesis is a process of creating life (from non-living matter). Reproduction is a process of creating life (birds and the bees...). This is a new way of creating life. Sequencing the genome from scratch (using 4 sets of chemicals) and placing it in a cell. It's a new species; a new life-form...LIFE!
Quote:are you trying to 'pick a fight' with me?No. I just don't see the point in insulting the people you disagree with in such a manner as to question whether they are in the right state of mind. I didn't say anything that was wrong scientifically; it was you who decided to pick an argument with words.
If you'd actually read the report, or the numerous newspaper articles about it, or watched the entire 12 minute video with Craig Venter explaining what he'd done to the journal "Science", then you might have a better understanding of what they'd done. Previously they'd constructed a minimal genome from the strands of DNA of other organisms, but this time they custom-designed one, including genetic markers (and coded English words) and actually wrote it using a chemical synthesizer.
As Venter explained it; the code was on a computer, which told the synthesizer which chemicals to use next, and the genome was constructed.
