A team of scientists from Scotland’s Glasgow University have taken a major step toward creating life from inorganic compounds. All organic life on Earth is carbon-based, but Professor Lee Cronin has taken the first step to shattering preconceived notions that non carbon-based life forms cannot exist.
He and his team of researchers have built inorganic chemical cells, or iCHELLs. These iCHELLs have demonstrated characteristics, such as oxidization and reduction activity, that are similar to features displayed by carbon-based cells. These cells are also capable of storing electricity.
The team said that the iCHELLs can be organized so that several chemical processes can be isolated within the same cell, mirroring what biological cells perform in organic life forms.
Cronin stated that although the project is only in the very first stages of development, once completed the cells could be used in a variety of different ways, primarily in medical research and treatment. “What we are trying do is create self-replicating, evolving inorganic cells that would essentially be alive. You could call it inorganic biology.”
Prof. Cronin is also very excited about what we may be able to learn about our own evolution, as well as change how we view life and creation. “If successful this would give us some incredible insights into evolution and show that it’s not just a biological process. It would also mean that we would have proven that non carbon-based life could exist and totally redefine our ideas of design.”
Cronin told The Guardian in a recent interview that he believes that biology is a “general phenomenon,” and that there may already be alternative forms of organic life existing on other planets. He believes that these life forms may be silicon or iron-based. If Cronin and his team successfully create self-replicating inorganic cells capable of evolution, the implications for advancements in medical science are far-reaching.
While the creation of “inorganic life” will greatly change medical technology possibilities, Cronin and his team also are being criticized by those who feel they are going too far.
Students at the University of Tampa have a wide array of views on the recent successes made by the Glasgow University researchers.
Grace Suarino, a junior studying communications in film and media thinks that iCHELLs will have a lot of benefits for the field of medicine, and that they will ultimately be a good thing. “I know that some people think creating artificial life is playing God, but think about what it could mean for medical treatment.
We may be able to use the cells to fight cancer or help people dying from degenerative diseases. I think it would be awesome if they do it.”
Damon Mexisell, a senior majoring in Allied Health also feels that the creation of inorganic life will have many benefits. “Of course it will be a good thing. Not only will all kinds of new medical treatments be opened up, it will also teach us a lot about where we came from.
If you can make something that may ultimately show us how we got here, I am all for it. It’s a question that’s been asked for a long time.”
Nick Iuliano, a math major with an AS in environmental biology is also an advocate of the new technology. “I think there are major benefits we can get from creating life from inorganic matter and there is nothing wrong with researching it. The only fear I would have is the use of this knowledge … It could change the natural flow on Earth.”
While many people feel that the creation of inorganic life will have benefits, there are those who feel that the risks may outweigh the possible rewards. Some feel that the researchers would essentially be “playing God,” and that humans will be biting off more than we can chew. Terrance Frasier, a communications major had an interesting response: “You never know what could happen with that [inorganic life]. People could try to cure diseases, but you never know what could happen.
I am religious too, so I think it might be going too far. I’m sure that people could probably use the technology for the wrong reasons too, and if it gets into the wrong hands, I don’t even want to know what could happen.”
I feel that while the creation of inorganic life could be very useful, it may also be very dangerous. I believe the possible medical advancements that could be made by creating iCHELLs capable of replicating are worth the risk, but not without a certain amount of reservations.
I am sure that if there is a way to use inorganic life in a negative way, someone will discover it, patent it and sell it. If there is one thing the human race has always been proficient in, it is using technology to create new weapons.
I feel that without a doubt, if iCHELLs are created, an entire new world of warfare will open up. As with any new invention, in the wrong hands, iCHELLs could be used for mayhem.
However, I do feel that the rewards from Cronin and his colleagues creating iCHELLs at Glasgow University will be worth any risk and negative effects. The technology will open new doors in medical and evolutionary research, ultimately helping mankind fight a variety of disease and illness.
Imagine iCHELLs that help white blood cells affected by AIDS fight sickness and keep a person alive. While I am sure that some despot somewhere will use this technology maliciously, I feel that all of the possible good that could come from iCHELLs will greatly outweigh the risks associated with such a groundbreaking invention.
The evolutionary lessons alone will be staggering. Like all humans, from the religious to atheists, I have a strong desire to know where I came from; if this will help us discover that, then it most definitely has the David Adams stamp of approval.
David Adams can be reached at dadams@spartans.ut.edu