Scientists announced a bold step on Thursday in the enduring quest to create artificial life. They've produced a living cell powered by man-made DNA.
The inventors call it the world's first synthetic cell, although this initial step is more a re-creation of existing life - changing one simple type of bacterium into another - than a built-from-scratch kind.
But Maryland genome-mapping pioneer J. Craig Venter said his team's project paves the way for the ultimate, much harder goal: designing organisms that work differently from the way nature intended for a wide range of uses. Already he's working with ExxonMobil in hopes of turning algae into fuel.
