Reading over some more of your posts, I think some of your confusion stems from the fact that the latest breakthrough by Venter's team involved using a preexisting cell as a host for their artificial genome. It's true that this is not creating life from scratch in the strictest sense of the term. It's more like creating the "brain" of the cell from scratch, and putting it into a natural cell "body."
However, there are scientists attempting to go further. Here's the abstract from a scientific article (from '06) that gives a basic game-plan of how a fully-functional cell could be made from scratch, organelles and membrane included:
We have the basic knowledge needed to create life, and we have scientists working right now at making it a reality. Venter's recent success, if anything, tells us that we are getting really close. We aren't there yet, I'll give you that, but can you really outright deny the possibility that an organic cell could be made entirely from inorganic matter?
However, there are scientists attempting to go further. Here's the abstract from a scientific article (from '06) that gives a basic game-plan of how a fully-functional cell could be made from scratch, organelles and membrane included:
Quote:Construction of a chemical system capable of replication and evolution, fed only by small molecule nutrients, is now conceivable. This could be achieved by stepwise integration of decades of work on the reconstitution of DNA, RNA and protein syntheses from pure components. Such a minimal cell project would initially define the components sufficient for each subsystem, allow detailed kinetic analyses and lead to improved in vitro methods for synthesis of biopolymers, therapeutics and biosensors. Completion would yield a functionally and structurally understood self-replicating biosystem. Safety concerns for synthetic life will be alleviated by extreme dependence on elaborate laboratory reagents and conditions for viability. Our proposed minimal genome is 113 kbp long and contains 151 genes. We detail building blocks already in place and major hurdles to overcome for completion.http://www.nature.com/msb/journal/v2/n1/...00090.html
We have the basic knowledge needed to create life, and we have scientists working right now at making it a reality. Venter's recent success, if anything, tells us that we are getting really close. We aren't there yet, I'll give you that, but can you really outright deny the possibility that an organic cell could be made entirely from inorganic matter?
