Scientists Bring Back Artificial Life -- And Our Fear of Frankenstein

In Frankenstein, the human life form created by Dr. Victor Frankenstein has no name. But in public talks, Mary Shelley was said to have referred to the creature as "Adam" -- the human created in the Bible by God. The subtitle of the book is "The Modern Prometheus" -- another God who, according to some versions of Greek myth, created Man.

Fiction is nearly fact. A group of scientists has manufactured DNA, put it into a bacterium with a similar genetic code, and nurtured this Adam as the inserted DNA took over and turned the host cell into a self-replicating life form. Igor has thrown the switch. Frankenstein has sat up on the table. "It's alive!" Humans have taken a big step toward creating a new form of life.

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