Stories related to: artificial life

Scientists have assembled the entire genome of a bacterium from basic chemicals, an important step toward creating a fully artificial organism, Reuters reports. "This entire process started with four bottles of chemicals," says Craig Venter, founder of the institute that did the work. Scientists had previously manufactured the genome for a virus, but this is the first for a bacterium, which are far more complex, notes the New York Times. More »

One popular theory on the origin of life holds that it is a “cosmic imperative”—inevitable on any Earth-like planet. That theory is being tested in a novel way, Scientific American reports: by searching for evidence of a “second genesis”—life on Earth that in some fundamental way differs from life as we know it. More »

A synthetic life form constructed in a lab from basic components could make its debut in the next 3 to 10 years, scientists say. Researchers are hard at work on creating a cell, which hopefully would be able to reproduce on its own. "It's going to be a big deal and everybody's going to know about it," says one expert. More »