Scientists claim they're close to creating life:
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articl...Enzyme-Design/
Quote:
Over the past several years, researchers have begun making synthetic genetic polymers they called XNAs, which incorporate alternative molecules in place the ribose or deoxyribose portions of RNA and DNA, and a couple of years ago, Philipp Holliger of the U.K.’s MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and his team showed that these nucleic acids can replicate and evolve just like the real thing. Now, the group has used XNAs to encode and produce artificial enzymes that, once again, function just as well as natural molecules, capable of constructing and breaking down other compounds, according to research published this week (December 1) in Nature.
“Our work suggests that, in principle, there are a number of possible alternatives to nature’s molecules that will support the catalytic processes required for life,” Holliger told BBC News. “Life’s ‘choice’ of RNA and DNA may just be an accident of prehistoric chemistry.”
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What with this and the "Artificial Intelligence" that the gimp Hawkins talks about, I can see that we'll end up with a planet filled with gimps with huge brains in wheelchairs.