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Florida Lab Gets Pregnant

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the also-no-one-has-heard-from-them-in-days dept.

Synthetic Biology, a relatively new field, is seeking to find out what happened to a bunch of chemicals to make them capable of supporting a metabolism, replicating, and evolution. A Florida lab is showing some of the most promising advancements in this direction with their AEGIS (Artificially Expanded Genetic Information System) experiment. "AEGIS is not self-sustaining, at least not yet, and with 12 DNA building blocks -- as opposed to the usual four -- there's little chance it will be confused with natural life. Still, Benner is encouraged by the results. 'It's evolving. It's doing what we designed it to do,' said Benner, a biochemist with the Gainesville, Fla.-based Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution. In addition to providing an example of how alien life might be cobbled together, synthetic biology has a broad array of uses on the home front."

3 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. AEGIS has been in commercial use for years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    KFC rolled theirs out years ago.

  2. I won't believe its alive until ... by Tired+and+Emotional · · Score: 5, Funny

    it engulfs its first white lab coated scientist.

    --
    Squirrel!
  3. Nerds + genetic-engineering = ...boobs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Who wants to bet me $20 they just use this technology to invent the first self-replicating pet-boob?