fuTuRe sHOcK

Aldous Huxley’s Nightmare is about to be real

AFP reports Scientists have discovered a more efficient way of building a synthetic genome that could one day enable them to create artificial life, according to a study. The method is already being used to help develop next generation biofuels and biochemicals in the labs of controversial celebrity US scientist Craig Venter. Venter has hailed artificial life forms as a potential remedy to illness and global warming, but the prospect is highly controversial and arouses heated debate over its potential ramifications and the ethics of engineering artificial life. Artificially engineered life is one of the Holy Grails of science, but also stirs deep fears as foreseen in Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel “Brave New World” in which natural human reproduction is eschewed in favor of babies grown in laboratories.

Venter and his team continue to work towards creating a living bacterial cell using the synthetic genome sequence of the Mycoplasma genitalium bacteria. The bacteria, which causes certain sexually transmitted diseases, has one of the least complex DNA structures of any life form, composed of just 580 genes. In contrast, the human genome has some 30,000. Using the genetic sequence of this bacteria, the Maryland-based team has created a chromosome known as Mycoplasma laboratorium. They are working on developing a way to transplant this chromosome into a living cell and stimulate it to take control and effectively become a new life form. More

This Dobbs clip discusses the new North American common currency called the “Amero”. The NAU progress report claims everything is ontrack for the Union to go into effect in 2010. Dobbs reports that the North American union will be an Orwellian Brave New World. The fall of dollar will pave the way for the implementation of the Amero, resulting in the loss of sovereignty for three countries, and economic control and enslavement over its populations.