The J. Craig Venter Institute, led by Daniel G. Gibson at left, successfully developed the first synthetic bacterial genome, mycoplasma genitalium in January of 2008. The series of six images at left show the development of the genome over a period of time. This breakthrough is the first step toward the creation of the first synthetic cell and thus, the first purely synthetic biological organism. The development leads to the possibility of creating cells and organisms that could withstand extremely high or low temperatures, oxygen deprivation or other conditions in which humans and most other living organisms could never survive. The implications are overwhelming in terms of the future evolution of the human and all other species on earth. Have we now taken control of natural selection for all organisms including oursleves? Will we finally be able to perfect all of our flaws: mortality, disease, the need to procreate in order to survive?

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