The creation of the Escherichia coli bacterium was not being challenged just the mention that it did manage to go through a process of evolution and the process was repeatable.
Currently there is a team at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, MD creating a living bacterial cell based entirely on a synthetically made genome nicknamed Synthia. This will be a man made life form created from non-living chemical parts.
The group was also in a Newsweek story today about another project involving the manipulation of chromosomes in an existing bacterium to produce fuel.
THE FUTURE OF ENERGY
A Bug to Save the Planet
Genome pioneer Craig Venter wants to make a bacterium that will eat CO2 and produce fuel.
No one would accuse Craig Venter of harboring humble ambitions. In 2000 he decoded the human genome faster than anyone else—and he did it more cheaply than a well-funded government team. More recently he's set a new goal for himself: to replace the petrochemical industry. In a Maryland lab, he's manipulating chromosomes in the hopes of creating an energy bug—a bacterium that will ingest CO2, sunlight and water, and spew out liquid fuel that can be pumped into American SUVs. NEWSWEEK's Fareed Zakaria spoke to Venter about the brave new world of biologically based fuels. Excerpts:
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