Synthetic DNA on the Brink of Yielding New Life Forms
By Rick Weiss Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 17, 2007; Page A01
“It has been 50 years since scientists first created DNA in a test tube, stitching ordinary chemical ingredients together to make life’s most extraordinary molecule. Until recently, however, even the most sophisticated laboratories could make only small snippets of DNA — an extra gene or two to be inserted into corn plants, for example, to help the plants ward off insects or tolerate drought.”
“Now researchers are poised to cross a dramatic barrier: the creation of life forms driven by completely artificial DNA…..”