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Scientists Expect to Duplicate “Creation,” Then Let “Evolution” take over – in 3-5 years with Artificial Life.
By The Apostle | August 21, 2007
According to Discovery Channel’s website (and the Associated Press), scientists are optimistically expecting that they can create artificial life in the next 3-5 years.
Of course, they have some “minor” issues to contend with, such as membranes, nucleotides, and genetic information – in short, once they figure out how to get the cells to have a container, nervous system, ability to metabolize (eat), and reproduce, they will have become like god. Personally, I’m a bit bewildered by what they HAVE achieved in order to be so optimistic.
Sure, Dr. Frankenstein is well on the way of animating the inanimate – he only need to figure out the nervous, digestive, and reproductive systems – oh, and skin too. But he’s almost done!
I’m sure Creationists and Intelligent Design evangelists will love the idea of top researchers spending years to create artificial life to try to prove that all life was just an “accident” and that the idea of Intelligent Design is a ridiculous fairy tale. The only way such mockery would hold water is if the scientists laboring on this project accept the fact that they are not intelligent…
At the same time, reading this article does raise rather pertinent questions. (After all, the origin, being a non-repeatable, un-observed event means there is little we can do to examine it scientifically, and it is therefore of little importance or use to the Church of Man.)
What is the definition of life, and can it really be “artificial?” Even these “synthetic” organisms that will be called artificial draw heavily from existing genetic codes and DNA. When Luther Burbank crossed a potato and a tomato he engineered a “synthetic” sort of genetically-altered food (now known as the Beefsteak Tomato), but that is still considered a “natural” food.
Rather, is life something that we cannot instill, create, or control any more than Dr. Frankenstein? Is it really possible that we, whether products of evolution or creation, can in turn truly re-create the processes that brought us into being?
Tags: scientists, artificial life, Frankenstein, Intelligent Design, life, evolution
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