See, I knew science would solve global warming!

(((Sometimes I read something in the science section of the newspaper which I'm sure will be screaming on the cover of every news outlet. Usually these things just end up being a small blurb in "Harper's "Findings." Alan Jackson needs to start writing songs about things like this so it remains in our cultural memory.)))

"I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer

• Ed Pilkington in New York
• The Guardian
• Saturday October 6 2007

"Craig Venter, the controversial DNA researcher involved in the race to decipher the human genetic code, has built a synthetic chromosome out of laboratory chemicals and is poised to announce the creation of the first new artificial life form on Earth.

"Pat Mooney, director of a Canadian bioethics organisation, ETC group, said the move was an enormous challenge to society to debate the risks involved. "Governments, and society in general, is way behind the ball. This is a wake-up call - what does it mean to create new life forms in a test-tube?"

He said Mr Venter was creating a "chassis on which you could build almost anything. It could be a contribution to humanity such as new drugs or a huge threat to humanity such as bio-weapons".

Mr Venter believes designer genomes have enormous positive potential if properly regulated. In the long-term, he hopes they could lead to alternative energy sources previously unthinkable. Bacteria could be created, he speculates, that could help mop up excessive carbon dioxide, thus contributing to the solution to global warming, or produce fuels such as butane or propane made entirely from sugar."

Link