Synthetic Life

As the UK Times reports, the private scientist Dr. Craig Venter is getting close to creating the first synthetic life. Though the possible applications in the eventual refining of this technique are limitless, are there ethical questions that should be addressed?

I assume that the culmination of his efforts will be misperceived by many people, and that the unknown will once again be feared, ostracized. But there should be a very serious discussion of what is happening.

I really recommend reading the entire article posted by the UK Times.