Molecular biologists at Harvard Medical School are building protocells, made from fatty molecules that can trap bits of nucleic acids that contain the source code for replication. This, combined with a process that harnesses external energy from the sun, could form a self-replicating, evolving system that satisfies the conditions of life, but doesn’t even come close to anything currently on the earth. It is said that these organisms could represent life as it began on this planet or could possibly currently exist elsewhere in the universe.
One of the more titilating quotes reads:
“What we have in biology is just one of many, many possibilities,” Szostack said. “One of the things that always comes up when people talk about life and universal qualities is water. But is water really necessary? What if we could design a system that works in something else?”
Read the full article at: Wired.
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they aren’t MAKING new life; they are merely manipulating stuff that’s already here…