Sharon Writes

A computer-generated representation of a strand of DNA.

Scientists have created the first cell controlled by a human-made genome — a step closer to artificial life that is drawing both praise and warnings of potential dire consequences.

A team from the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Md., announced on Thursday it had created a synthetic bacterial genome that is a copy of an existing genome. The scientists then transplanted the synthetic genome into a different bacterium cell to create what they call a synthetic cell, although technically only its genome is synthetic.

The new genome then “booted up” the recipient bacterium’s cell in much the same way that a computer’s operating system makes the computer work.

The scientists say the eventual goal is to build new organisms that act in ways that differ from what nature intended, such as custom-made bacteria designed for biofuel production or environmental cleanup.

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“When you reintroduce an animal to a place it used to occur, it’s important to understand what sort of interaction they had in the past,” said lead author and animal ecologist Seth Newsome, a post-doctoral researcher at the Carnegie Institution of Washington at the time of the study.

“A lot of the time we think they’re perfectly suitable, but it turns out the ecosystem has changed dramatically since they were last there.”