Synthetic DNA on the Brink of Yielding New Life Forms

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…..”