Artificial life, a good or bad idea?

Daniel Gibson and his colleagues at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland in Rockville Maryland successfully removed the DNA from a bacterium and replaced it with synthesized DNA of a different bacterium, creating a new living bacterium. The new cell has reproduced and now numbers in the billions. “With this approach we now have the ability to start with a DNA sequence and design organisms exactly like we want,” says Gibson.

This technology holds incredible promise for designer cells to cure human disease, digest oil spills and organic pollution, convert biomass efficiently into energy and much more. But it also carries great risk of unintended consequences. We could inadvertently release a bio-agent that attacks numerous species including humans. Worse, a rouge state like North Korea might deliberately weaponize it.

What do you think of the this research. Should we ban it or proceed? If we did ban it, how would that prevent secretive rouge states from doing it anyway? If we proceed, how should we regulate it to avoid unintended consequences?