Anthony Cerrato  wrote or quoted:
> "Tim Tyler"  wrote:
> > Robert Karl Stonjek  wrote or quoted:

> > > The potential for synthetic biology | By Pamela Silver and Jeffrey Way
> > >
> > > ? 2003 Nature Publishing Group
> > >
> > > Synthetic biology is a new discipline based on the
> > > expectation of a revolution. In the future, bioengineers will 
> > > create new organisms based on the same strategies that engineers 
> > > use to design computer chips, bridges,
> > > and skyscrapers. Mathematical modeling will drive the
> > > design of useful, artificial organisms, instead of relying on the 
> > > blind, trial-and-error methods of natural selection.
> >
> > It sounds like artificial life rechristened.
> 
> I dunno--depends whether or not there are biologists in that
> bunch or just electronics/computer guys. I do like this idea
> of engineering "synthetic" life in a real biological sense.

``The process of synthesis has been an extremely important tool in many 
  disciplines. Synthetic chemistry - the ability to put together new 
  chemical compounds not found in nature - has not only contributed 
  enormously to our theoretical understanding of chemical phenomena, but 
  has also allowed us to fabricate new materials and chemicals that are 
  of great practical use for industry and technology. 

  Artificial life amounts to the practice of ``synthetic biology'' and, by 
  analogy with synthetic chemistry, the attempt to recreate biological 
  phenomena in alternative media will result in not only better 
  theoretical understanding of the phenomena under study, but also in 
  practical applications of biological principles in the technology of 
  computer hardware and software, mobile robots, spacecraft, medicine, 
  nanotechnology, industrial fabrication and assembly, and other vital 
  engineering projects.''

 - Chris Langton's "What is Artificial Life?" essay, from: 
   http://alife.ccp14.ac.uk/zooland/zooland/
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