Life 2.0

Behind much of the resistance to the notion of synthetic life is the intuition that nature (or God) created the best of possible worlds. Charles Darwin believed that the myriad designs of nature's creations are perfectly honed to do whatever they are meant to do—be it animals that see, hear, sing, swim or fly, or plants that feed on the sun's rays, exuding bright floral colors to attract pollinators. SynBio proponents are taking a new tack, and they're not afraid of the implications. As James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA structure, says: "If we don't play God, who will?"

Silver is professor of molecular biology at Princeton University. He is the author of "Challenging Nature." He has no financial ties with any biotech firm.

© 2007