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NASA Reproduces a Building Block of Life In the Lab
xp65 writes "NASA scientists studying the origin of life have reproduced uracil, a key component of our hereditary material, in the laboratory. They discovered that an ice sample containing pyrimidine exposed to ultraviolet radiation under space-like conditions produces this essential ingredient of life. 'We have demonstrated for the first time that we can make uracil, a component of RNA, non-biologically in a laboratory under conditions found in space,' said Michel Nuevo, research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. 'We are showing that these laboratory processes, which simulate occurrences in outer space, can make a fundamental building block used by living organisms on Earth.'"
say... 6000 years ago or so?
I mean its cool and all, but I'm not sure I see where this is going. Can someone enlighten me?
Sure. Picture this: you really need some uracil, but don't have a lot of scratch to buy it. You're out of luck, right? WRONG! Got some pyrimidine, ice, and a source of UV light? Guess what? THAT'S ALL YOU NEED!
With all the money you'll save with this, maybe you could treat yourself to some fancypants store-bought cytosine.
If you need an application to appreciate that, then we have very little in common ...
Be kind. Most people need something tangible to inspire creative thought. To the OP, imagine, if you will, browsing the aisles of a toy store in your local mall. Next to the ant farm kits, and legos, you see
New from Ronco(TM). LifeBuilder(TM) 1.0.
Disclaimer: Space-like conditions and meteorites not included.
Or something like that.
At this point the coffin is made entirely of nails.
It's almost like a crown of nails, or like nails through the wrists.
Ohhhhh... too soon?
I'm glad they at least included this part, eventually:
Nobody really understands how life got started on Earth.
I wish they had gone one better and stated that nobody understands IF life started on Earth.
So Say We ALL!
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
I mean its cool and all, but I'm not sure I see where this is going. Can someone enlighten me?
Much like how Star Trek has helped inspire technology, I believe Arthur C. Clark and Stanley Kubrick pioneered an application that could utilize this. That application would be the orbital baby. How the baby was made and the uses of said baby are left up to the opinion of the viewer. Of course that could be said for the rest of 2001: A Space Odyssey as well.
Obviously they have decided it's best to start from scratch this time...
Think of it like this... you like, bacon, right? When people go to colonize the distant stars, it would be helpful if there was already bacon there when they arrived. Bacon is made from pigs, which are living things, and almost all living things of which we are aware are in part made of this stuff.
So the odds have improved that our interstellar colonists will arrive at a place that already has salty, delicious bacon -- which is good, since by then they'll probably be almost already out after a long trip.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Sorry but evolution is a theory not a fact. Get your facts right if you expect to get any where.
Why bother
Do we hide the fact that we modify corn, from the corn plants? Do we go out of our way to ensure the corn plants, SHOULD they evolve intelligence, never find out they were created?
Um, you mean the ones that Monsanto gave Terminator genes to so they would never evolve into Skynet and kill us all?
A argument can be made that this has already happened. LSD anyone?