Ethicists and Theologians globally are weighing in, calling it a "Pandora's box of ethical questions, including concerns that researchers are playing God, tampering with the very essence of life". It's a solid argument and one that should definitely be considered. But the fact of the matter is, we've been headed down this road for a long time.
In fact, consider this - humans have been altering genetic life since the invention of agriculture. Cross-pollinating seeds to form newer, more robust strains of foods.
The question isn't if we should continue, but how. With proper funding and motivated, forward-thinkers like Ventor, we can set up safeguards for protection against the negative exploitations of such technologies. And yes - there are many: biological weapons, potentially toxic agricultural crops and of course, the ever-impending grey-goo swarm.
But think about the positive impacts: advances in medicine, fuel production and the flip-side of the agricultural coin.
A few years ago, when he first publicized his endeavors in this direction, Dr. Ventor used a more prescient example for this technology's use - introducing manmade, eco-friendly, algae into an environment to eat/fend off toxins. If that promise still holds true, there's a certain body of water off the Louisiana Coast that jump at the chance to cuddle up with Synthia...
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