<p><br /> An American biologist has stepped into the shoes of Baron Frankenstein by breathing life into a bacterium using genes assembled in the laboratory.<br /> </p><p><br /> The creation of the "synthetic cell", described as a "landmark" by one British expert, is a 15-year dream come true for maverick genetics entrepreneur Dr Craig Venter.<br /> </p><p><br /> It has major implications for genomics, including the manufacture of artificial organisms designed for specific tasks such as making vaccines or cleaning up pollution.<br /> </p><p><br /> But experts recognise that as Mary Shelley demonstrated in her famous novel, there are potential dangers too. Synthetic life could, for instance, pave the way to terrifying biological weapons.<br /> </p><p><br /> Dr Venter's researchers explain in the journal Science how they effectively "re-booted" a simple microbe by transplanting into it a set of genetic code sequences that were built from scratch.<br /> </p><p><br /> British expert Professor Paul Freemont, co-director of the EPSEC Centre for Synthetic Biology at Imperial College London, said: "The paper... is a landmark study that represents a major advance in synthetic biology.<br /> </p><p><br /> "The applications of this enabling technology are enormous and one might argue this is a key step in the industrialisation of synthetic biology leading to a new era of biotechnology."<br /> </p>
