"Tim Tyler"  wrote in message
news:cj9cg2$73q$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org...
> Robert Karl Stonjek  wrote or
quoted:
>
> > Vision | Cells by Design
> > 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.
Wasn't there an article recently (I'd hafta dig a bit to
find it in my files) about the possibility that life
originated at the interface of ocean and land where the
froth of waves may have contributed to primitive spherical
structures (e.g., small bubbles) which may have presented
myriad tiny chemical reactors for life experiments. I would
guess the primitive ocean would require a dense chemical
soup for some of these experiments to have worked (a la
Kauffman) but 'taint impossible. I believe Colloids of
various types have often been suggested as being implicated
in generating early life structures so this might be another
area of investigation. Can Dr. Stanley Miller look into
this--he's good at simple experiments like this--a bit of
CO2 and soupy C cpds, lightning, and a big lab down by the
sea...who knows? :))     ...tonyC

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