Environmentalists fight to keep synthetic life in lab

Craig Venter, a multi-millionaire geneticist, last week announced that he had made a living cell from artificial chromosomes, paving the way for the creation of more complex synthetic organisms.

Now a Canadian environmental group aims to ensure the new life forms are never released into nature, where it is feared they could prove a threat to the survival of other species.
 
The Etc Group has already laid claim to a degree of success after helping to come up with a "de facto moratorium" on synthetic biology at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Nairobi, Kenya. The proposals, designed by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, could prevent any experiments where the synthetic creations are released into nature, the Etc Group said.

The group told The Independent: "The draft adopted by the meeting amounts to a de facto moratorium on the release of synthetic life forms." The plans, which have not been formally approved by the Biological Convention, will stay in "square brackets" until a meeting of environment ministers in Japan later this year.

Jim Thomas, a member of the Etc Group, said: "Synthetic biology is a high-risk, profit-driven field, building organisms out of parts that are still poorly understood.

"We know that lab-created life forms can escape and become biological weapons, and that their use threatens existing natural biodiversity."


/Telegraph.co.uk/