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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Synthetic biology and the rise of the 'spider-goats'

Horizon presenter Adam Rutherford looks at the advances in synthetic biology and genetic engineering that have resulted in, among other things, computer-made life forms and cancer assassin cells

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Adam Rutherford, left, and Randy Lewis milk Freckles, the silk-producing goat. Photograph: BBC

Freckles looks like a perfectly normal kid. She has bright eyes, a healthy white pelt and gambols happily with Pudding, Sweetie and her five other siblings, exactly as you might imagine young goats do. Until I fend her off, she's very keen on chewing my trousers. To the casual observer, and to goatherds, she shows no signs that she is not a perfectly normal farmyard goat.

Read More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/jan/14/synthetic-biology-spider-goat-genetics

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