Scientists a step nearer to creating artificial life

**To the untrained eye, the tiny, misshapen, fatty blobs on Giovanni Murtas's microscope slide would not look very impressive. But when the Italian scientist saw their telltale green fluorescent glint he knew he had achieved something remarkable - and taken a vital step towards building a living organism from scratch.** The green glow was proof that his fragile creations were capable of making their own **proteins**, a crucial ability of all living things and vital for carrying out all other aspects of life. Though only a first step, the discovery will hasten efforts by scientists to build the world's first **synthetic organism**. It could also prove a significant development in the multibillion-dollar battle to exploit the technology for manufacturing commercially valuable **chemicals** such as **drugs** and **biofuels** or **cleaning up pollution**. The achievement is a major advance for the new field of "synthetic biology". Its proponents hope to construct simple bespoke organisms with carefully chosen components. But some campaigners worry about the new technology's unsettling potential and argue there should be a moratorium on the research until the ethical and technological implications have been discussed more widely. For more information "www.guardian.co.uk":[ http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/sep/06/2]

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