But will the new life-form be credible?

[Paulie Walnuts]

J. Craig Venter, the gene scientist with a history of pulling off unlikely successes, and Hamilton O. Smith, a Nobel laureate, are behind the plan. Their intent is to create a single-celled, partially man-made organism with the minimum number of genes necessary to sustain life. If the experiment works, the microscopic man-made cell will begin feeding and dividing to create a population of cells unlike any previously known to exist.

If Venter and his collaborators manage to create a minimalist organism of the sort they envision, they will attempt to add new functions to it one at a time

I had no idea this type of thing was possible. Sort of makes you long for the days when you only had to worry about anthrax.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2002Nov20.html

[Cho Da]

Craig Venter is Gary's brother.

[Paddyboy1]

cho da:

The link isn't working. is he really his brother?

[Paulie Walnuts]

It's Gary's brother (note the title of the thread).

He received a lot of press a few years back for mapping the human genome.

[Cho Da]

Originally Posted by Paddyboy1

cho da:

The link isn't working. is he really his brother?

The link was just a search on the CAS site for 'Venter'

Yes, Gary and Craig are brothers. Which is smarter?

[Oracle]

They are mirror twins, and they both look like actuaries. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

[Paulie Walnuts]

It's a little-known fact, but Craig actually created Gary in his laboratory.

[Mr. Penguin]

Gary has told me in the past that he's the stupid brother.

But better to be the stupid one than the mad scientist one.