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Ye Old One · Guest

Patent sought on 'synthetic life'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6733797.stm

Scientists working to build a life form from scratch have applied to
patent the broad method they plan to use to create their "synthetic
organism".

Dr Craig Venter, the man who led the private sector effort to sequence
the human genome, has been working for years to create a man-made
organism.

But constructing a primitive microbe from a kit of genes is a daunting
task.

Dr Venter says, eventually, these life forms could be designed to make
biofuels and absorb greenhouse gases.

The publication of the patent application has angered some
environmentalists.

The Canada-based ETC group, which monitors developments in
biotechnology, called on patent offices to reject applications on
synthetic life forms.

The J Craig Venter Institute's US patent application claims exclusive
ownership of a set of essential genes and a synthetic "free-living
organism that can grow and replicate" made using those genes.

It has also filed an international application at the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) which names more than 100
countries where the institute may seek monopoly patents.

'Gene kit'

Dr Venter's team intends to construct an organism with a "minimal
genome" that can then be inserted into the shell of a bacterium.

By removing genes, one by one, from a bacterium called Mycoplasma
genitalium they identified the minimum number of genes required for
this particular organism to replicate, or reproduce, in its controlled
environment.

They have been able to remove 101 of its 482 genes without killing the
bacterium, meaning that 381 were required for replication.

But generating a man-made living organism from the bottom up requires
much more than just its minimal genome.

For example, in order to get the genes to do something, there have to
be chemicals to translate the genes into messenger RNA and proteins.

Scientists around the world have been wrestling with the task of
generating a so-called free-living synthetic organism for years.

Environmental objection

The ETC Group says it will be writing to Dr Venter asking him to
withdraw his institute's patent applications.

"We don't want to engage in a long-term legal strategy to slap down
bad patents. These patents must be struck down before they're issued,"
said Hope Shand, a spokesperson for the group.

Jim Thomas, of ETC Group, added: "These monopoly claims signal the
start of a high-stakes commercial race to synthesise and privatise
synthetic life forms."

It said the company was pressing ahead with its work despite the fact
the public had not had the chance to debate the "far-reaching social,
ethical and environmental implications".

Dr Venter maintains that artificial life forms could produce solutions
to global problems such as green sources of fuel and climate change.

The effort could result in "designer microbes" that produce biofuels
such as ethanol, and hydrogen.

They could also be engineered to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) and other
greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

Dr Venter first announced that scientists were working on creating
synthetic life forms at a conference in California in 1999.

--
Bob.