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Mankind needs to make artificial life to survive
Craig Venter makes the case for using synthetic organisms to deal with climate change, reports Roger Highfield
The future of life on Earth depends on creating synthetic organisms to cut greenhouse gases, according to the leading American scientist who is poised to create the world's first man-made species.
Craig Venter, who made headlines around the world when he cracked the human genetic code, or genome, in 2000, wants to create designer bugs to manufacture hydrogen and biofuels, as well as to absorb carbon dioxide and other harmful greenhouse gases.
Dr Venter will argue that the most urgent problems facing our planet could solved by the creation of new artificial life such as novel bio-fuel producing organisms to replace oil and coal - in the 32nd Richard Dimbleby Lecture, tonight on BBC1.
"The future of life on this planet lies, not only in our ability to understand and use the molecules of life, but also, perhaps in creating new artificial life. That is, life forged not by Darwinian evolution, but created by human intelligence.'
His J Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland, recently applied for worldwide patents on what it refers to as "Mycoplasma laboratorium" based on synthetic DNA assembled by scientists, and he believes that the current measures to curb climate change are too limited and failing to exploit the opportunities presented by the ability to customise microorganisms.
He argues that "our planet is facing almost insurmountable problems, problems that governments on their own can't fix" and believes the solutions lie in the new and rapidly growing field of genomics - the study of the complete genetic make-up of a species, as written in the language of DNA.
"We have been working on the ability to go from reading the genetic code to learning how to write it".
In his lecture Dr Venter will describe the work his team is doing to create renewable and 'green' sources of fuel. For the UK he envisions "thousands of bio-refineries distributed around the country" creating clean fuel from silos filled with artificially created bacteria.
Artificial life created through the science of synthetic genomics could be harnessed to create much more besides. "Plastics, carpets, clothing, medicines and motor oil - all of these things can be created by biological organisms".
It may seem like the stuff of science fiction, but with Dr Venter's track record of achieving feats that his rivals condemned as lunatic or impossible, his vision may very well become a reality.
Currently one of only two people in the world to have gazed on his entire DNA code, Dr Venter believes that this feat will be commonplace within five years. By identifying potential illness early, as he has been able to do himself, Venter believes it will save billions on health care costs.
Dr Venter joins a prestigious list of Dimbleby lecture speakers from the realms of politics, business, science and the arts, ranging from former United States President Bill Clinton, to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Stella Rimington, the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams and, last year, the former head of the British Army, General Sir Mike Jackson.
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