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3-D printed life ? Synthetic organisms ?

Its good that he wants to do it to help us all and not just to make money .

Playing God is very bad idea. This can only end up bad.

That guy is perfect liar. They don't do it for money lol. Who can still buy this crap.

I want to add that this video made me very worried and sick to my stomach.

I don't think that this is "bad". I guess that's just the way evolution goes. Could it be that evolution itself evolved? From it's try and error aproach to a more direct one?

I think that guy needs a better outfit . maybe a suit and tie
or at least a lab coat or something .

What does his clothes have to do with anything? lol

I think it´s an interesting idea. Certainly has it´s dangers, and issues we could point out. But I´m not sure how much more dangerous anything they are doing is, compared to what nature itself already does. Take for example virus, which are constantly mutating, and they can insert their own DNA in other lifeforms. This is happening every second, countless virus and mutations happening. You could even say that basically all life is GMO, genetically modified by virus, and many of these modifications may be severely damaging to the host or further down the line to other lifeforms. Even normal life itself is being naturally genetically modifyed, for example sea slugs ingesting plancton and starting to do photosynthesis. How much different or more dangerous is the 3d DNA printing than what nature already does?

The guy in the video mentions they do not straight away send the modified DNA to the buyer, but they rather first send somewhere, where it is assured to be safe. I wonder who they send it to, what kind of controls or criteria are being used.

For those that are against this, what kind of genetic transformations would be unnaceptable, in your opinion? All? Some?

Well I do not believe in evolution and if there was one I would not call this 3d printing new lifeforms evolution but playing with very dangerous stuff. If you think that this will go nicely and smoothly you are mistaken.

As I said and I will stand for this one - playing God is very bad idea. I know I can not prove to you or anybody that what I say is right. I'd rather this project never went ahead and my opinion was never proved to be right.

This world was created perfect for us and I would like it to stay as it is. Its beautiful as it is don't you think ? Or you think we need some artificial life forms? I do not need some human clones walking on Earth. We should not stick our hands where they do not belong.

This news is making me very worried and sad.

Thoughts of a science moron = ME ---- >

Isnt DNA like a CD or a hard drive ? = A medium for carrying information . Information gathered by life forms over the last 4 billion years . Stored in a language with 4 parts . TCAG . So something like morse code / binary but with 4 parts instead of 2 = on / off .

That person makes adverts and claims that he can use a contraption that is realy just a set of computer steared spray cans to print DNA .

How can that possibly work when ........... we dont understand the code properly . We dont understand what all the segments do . We dont understand how different segments interact with eachother .

An organism is more than just its parts = We know aproximately the amounts of elements in it . The minerals . The vitamins . The hormones and and and ............ If we put them in spray cans could we spray an organism ? Would it live ? Would it function ? What function ? How would it function ? Would it function alone ? Or in conection with other DNA progam parts ? ............ Parts that we havent got ? ...... and dont understand .........

Lets do an experiment ? = We take the parts that it takes to make a simple organism . We put those parts in a plastic bag and shake them . How long would it take before an / the organism formed and worked ? 4 billion years or more ?

Nature had 4 billion years to test itself . To test the DNA it uses . How it and its functions fit together in symbiosis . Over those 4 billion years the interactions have been tested and shown to be stable . Does this guy " think " that he can just throw a joker into the game with no risk ?

And then to crown it all pinky says that he will get pinky to test his DNA for dangers . What dangers ? All the dangers that an oganism has faced over the last 4 billion years as nature has done ?

Or is pinky just masterbating his ego ....... again ?


OR is the guy just talking about a bag full of slime that contains all the elements that are in DNA ?

2 words : lab coat

but what if god himself



Baudrillard

It is no longer a question of a false representation of reality (ideology) but of concealing the fact that the real is no longer real, and thus of saving the reality principle. The world belongs to the market and to sensationalism.

He's selling his company. We know that these things he says aren't probable, but they are exciting and peculiar and we want to go along with it. And in the case, por chance, in the case that we do start creating synthetic little dinosaurs, synthetic people, genetically engineering everything, grafting a plastic limb upon the tree of life.. I want no hand in it.

The 3d-printing of life is no more than fancy sensationalised press wording. What the Cambian company essentially does is to high-throughput synthesize long strands of dna: you want a string of sequence, they will make it for you.

For reference, the above thing is being done for over 15 years in molecular biology-based research and development. The difference is that whereas the "traditional way" is tedious, expensive and time-consuming, the guys in the video just make it 1000 times easier and soon, cheaper. It is an interesting and useful development which, as a research tool, holds much promise.

Now, to go from DNA sequence to organism (as the press sensationalises it) is a whole different level nowhere to be seen any time soon. Certainly, the technology the guys offer could be a step towards this direction (just as numerous other molecular biology advancements can be seen as "a step towards this direction", but in reality the things are almost never like that.

Numerous other technological steps that can be seen as steps towards a hypothetical sci-fi futuristic idea often fail to deliver for all sorts of reasons (including the possibility that when the time comes to be able to do as the reporters envisage, there may be no necessity or interest of doing so).

So yeah, do not get hyped on fancy press wording. And remember that life is a tad more than a string of DNA bases.

And that hair!


There seems tobe much fear of the unknown in this thread, but i choose curiosity instead.

Like endlessness said, everything is being mutated by viruses anyway, and if i remember
correctly, a virus is what they used to attach firefly DNA into the glowing plant.
So it will probably be stuff like that, mostly manipulating plants i imagine.

Though i see how it could seem scary, and iam not backing up this guys claims, idk but
DNA research could identify, and cure many diseases. Plus maybe give us super-powers!

SO in summary, iam for DNA research, no diseases, and super powers.

Being a science moron i'm confused ---- >

Synthetic DNA ? Or Takeing DNA and reproducing it ? = That they have to have a segment of DNA to reproduce / lengthen ?

Then ......... the long and complicated process of repoducing DNA can now be done in a print operation ? In what time scale ?

I'm also haveing problems with the word print . Print what on what ?

cool stuff

Yeah, i will second that.. They sure didn't explain anything about the process.

DNA is just like instructions.

I could print out the instructions to build a plane, but having the instructions does not mean I can actually build a plane. It is only a part of the jigsaw.

The printer is just stringing proteins together into a chain. To create life you need to understand enough to be able to write those instructions and then once printed you have to be technicaligicaly capable enough to use them.

DNA as a medium for carrying information just like a CD . OK we can make something that has the components of DNA in it BUT can we program those DNA components to do anything ? To carry information ? DNA is the CD with the recorded infomation on it . A CD with no info on it is a blank CD . SO ...... just like a blank CD that " DNA " is usesless unless they can program it with something ?

Or the guys talking crap and just means reproducing more DNA from a sample and then squirting it onto something ?

My antenna are vibrating = I / we need more information before i / we buy a used car from him ........

What do you believe in?



Dangerous for what?



Nothing ever goes nice and smoothly...but that doesn't mean it's bad. That's just the way it goes. Developement...evolution.

Wow I can't believe someone who does not believe in evolution would enter a discussion about DNA synthetic or not. DNA especially Mitochondrial DNA is used to dertimine our genetic linage and what other species we are related to. Our knowledge of early evolutionary history is based off it.

Bit like stating that the world is flat while discussing satilites.

@steppa and randomness:

I think that trying to argue rigid beliefs (e.g. " i do not believe in evolution" is really bound to lead nowhere. smokerx's post is borderline trolling the thread and just ignoring his comments may be the best line of action.

@smokerx: you are more than welcome to discuss your views on evolution in a different thread, inviting healthy discussion as necessary. In this thread, when you express personal views at least just try to argue your points and not spew them as you see fit.