Spelling Dog Backwards

So... We've created life... I don't mean the regular way either.

From Wired.com

"Man-made DNA has booted up a cell for the first time.
In a feat that is the culmination of two and a half years of tests and adjustments, researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute inserted artificial genetic material — chemically printed, synthesized and assembled — into cells that were then able to grow naturally."

This is one of those things that in my opinion will eventually make it to the nightly news, be talked about for a few weeks, commented on by everyone and then well... forgotten quicker than Pons and Fleischmann.  Why bother writing about it? Because this is huge.



You see, purveyors of Hard Science Fiction like myself are not often surprised when life imitates art. We've been there, seen that and frankly, wondered what took the boffins so long. So here we are. We have fake life. What's the big deal? Well, in my opinion if you can make bacteria, you can make anything given the patience and a steady nano-hand and electron microscope. So what should we make?


Part of me feels like a kid with a giant box of Legos. The sky is the limit. Do we work on our own code? Do we uplift a few of the smarter non human species? Do we make something new? I mean come on, the Singularity is staring us down the throat and we are trying to desperately figure out how to retrofit the old chassis to be able to upload and carry new add ons...  Why not just create a new rig? We can keep the old operating system... Oh... that's right, we don't know how the software works.

Let's face it... we have no damn idea. We are, as we speak reliving the crusades with laser guided bombs, arguing over the legality of sexual preference and whether or not we should be allowed to burn a naturally occurring substance [Political Preference Checkpoint: If you thought of Oil, click here, If Marijuana, click here).

I say go for it. But do it with a couple of rules in mind...



1. No slaves. Planet of the Apes was made in the 70's and still holds true.

2. No Quick Fixes. I don't care how much oil pumps into the Gulf. Don't kludge a bug to eat it. You don't know what it will do when the entree is gone.

3. Don't aim for smarter. Show me one genius who was not flawed at best or insane at the worst... we just don't get la cabeza yet, leave the Flowers to the fictional Algernon and let the rest of us do the hard math.

We do not have a damn clue. At least not at the decision making levels where enough money flows to make anything happen. So, it's all academic; good pub talk. Blog Fodder? Ooooh... that's a good name for a blog. Maybe You, the reader will steal it and give Me something to read?

Enjoy... And remember, Irony tastes like bacon... Mmmmm... yummy meme!