Venter makes giant leap for cleantech

Dr. J. Craig Venter

But the verdict is still out among scientists, venture capitalists and policy makers as to the long-term implications of the experiment. Costing between $35 million to $50 million to create, the organism itself is a “proof of principle,” Venter explained in a Science Channel special. “That proof means now we can start designing organisms with very specific purposes,” Venter said. “So it can dramatically affect all areas. The question is how fast.”  

 

Venter has already worked with ExxonMobil [NYSE: XOM] to create fuels from photosynthetic algae. And he is working with BP (NYSE: BP)—which is an investor in Synthetic Genomics, along with Draper Fisher Juvetson, Meteor Group and Biotechonomy—to convert coal into cleaner fuels. Next he says he will apply synthetic biology to create new food oils, as well as new vaccines. 

 

The actual organism created is less important than the concept proven, says Kenneth Oye, MIT professor of political science and engineering systems. “The potential is vast, with other applications to reduce lifecycle environmental loads for materials production, to enable more effective carbon capture and sequestration, and to clean up drinking water,” Oye says. 

 

In light of the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Oye adds, “We should be developing technologies, evaluating potential benefits, and assessing risks of genetically engineered bio-remediation relative to conventional methods with care, and not on the fly. We should be developing methods and testing  them systematically in advance of disasters, not in the midst of crisis.

 

Other scientists say the most recent advance has modest implications when it comes to advancing cleaner fuels or technologies.  “It will take quite a bit of time to mature the technologies to a point where one can sit at a computer and design genomes that perform in a way we would like,” says Michael Jewett, assistant professor in the department of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern University.

 

Others are concerned about the ethical implications of replicating life. Friends of the Earth has denounced the work and President Obama ordered the White House Bioethics Committee to study the issues raised by Venter’s experiment as well as synthetic biology in general.