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Scientists create artificial life in laboratory – Times Online.

Dr Venter, who has been working on synthetic life for a decade, told The Times: “It is our final triumph. This is the first synthetic cell. It’s the first time we have started with information in a computer, used four bottles of chemicals to write up a million letters of DNA software, and actually got it to boot up in a living organism.
“Though this is a baby step, it enables a change in philosophy, a change in thinking, a change in the tools we have. This cell we’ve made is not a miracle cell that’s useful for anything, it is a proof of concept. But the proof of concept was key, otherwise it is just speculation and science fiction. This takes us across that border, into a new world.”

When it comes to immortality (or longevity), the “immortal cell” cannot be the solution. If it were, further reproduction of cells would have to cease; you see, there’s already a known situation where the cells forget to die and reproduce themselves forever, and it’s called a “tumor” or “cancer“.

But even if there was a way around it, that is to say, to make cells immortal, by unblocking the biological mechanisms that order a cell to die, regardless of it’s current condition and then to prevent the existing cells from further reproducing themselves, to avoid tumors, even then, “immortal” would not guarantee “in perfect condition”; the reason is that, in that case, exhausted, damaged or sick cells would never be replaced! “Normal wear” would take its toll… and inevitably… death would come, perhaps even sooner than before!!

Apparently, the cycle of life and death within our bodies also serves the purpose of getting rid of worn-out, replacing them with new ones…

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Scientists create artificial life in laboratory – Times Online

Sneak peek at immortality?

Scientists create artificial life in laboratory – Times Online

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Sneak peek at immortality?

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