A Dutch Life

Synthetic DNA on the Brink of Yielding New Life Forms – washingtonpost.com

It has been 50 years since scientists first created DNA in a test tube, stitching ordinary chemical ingredients together to make life’s most extraordinary molecule. Until recently, however, even the most sophisticated laboratories could make only small snippets of DNA — an extra gene or two to be inserted into corn plants, for example, to help the plants ward off insects or tolerate drought.

Now researchers are poised to cross a dramatic barrier: the creation of life forms driven by completely artificial DNA.

This, when finally taken, is another important step on the road that will lead us to unlocking one of the most important questions we face. How did life come about? What incredible combination of factors, however improbable, have had to come together in order to create this thing we call life.

When we do finally make such a discovery, and after a short period of reflection on just how incredible a discovery it is, we can get on with the import job of creating pet dragons.