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A comment on New organisms have been formed using the first ever 6-letter genetic code.

Re:New organisms have been formed using the first ever 6-let... by madebysquares on Sunday January 29, 2017 @09:31AM (#13514256)
> "The other reason we don't need to be freaking out, says Romesberg, is that these molecules have not been designed to work at all in complex organisms, and seeing as they're like nothing found in nature, there's little chance that this could get wildly out of hand."

This is how the plot of every horror/disaster movie starts.

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Re:New organisms have been formed using the first ever 6-let... by fauigerzigerk on Sunday January 29, 2017 @09:52AM (#13514337)
That's true. I also noticed that whenever I see a helicopter on a screen, the chances of it not crashing or getting shot down are slim.

So in order to protect us from getting whiped out by rogue bacteria from a research lab we MUST ban disaster movies NOW!

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Re:New organisms have been formed using the first ever 6-let... by tyingq on Sunday January 29, 2017 @11:16AM (#13514801)
I'm no expert, but aren't there non-complex organisms and structures that are pretty dangerous? "Brain Eating Amoeba", Prions, and so forth...
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Re:New organisms have been formed using the first ever 6-let... by hellbanner on Sunday January 29, 2017 @12:01PM (#13515057)
Recently on HN: a "Cursed City of the Monkey God" features flesh-eating bacteri! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13396968
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Re:New organisms have been formed using the first ever 6-let... by amelius on Sunday January 29, 2017 @01:48PM (#13515839)
It seems we're one step closer to explaining the Fermi Paradox, [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox

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Re:New organisms have been formed using the first ever 6-let... by lamontcg on Monday January 30, 2017 @04:54PM (#13525398)
That is what leapt to my mind as well.

Its entirely possible that there were other self-replicating molecules on Earth that evolved first, but DNA simply out-competed them to extinction.

If we ever produce a competitor to DNA that was more 'virulent' than DNA, it would similarly out-compete DNA.

It would be the most pandemic of plagues that would affect every form of life. Even if we could protect our own DNA against attack somehow, it would attack all the bacteria that is symbiotic with us and which we need to survive.

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Re:New organisms have been formed using the first ever 6-let... by mitchty on Sunday January 29, 2017 @09:51AM (#13514334)
> This is how the plot of every horror/disaster movie starts.

Because its a trope. Can you explain how it gets wildly out of hand beyond speculation?

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Re:New organisms have been formed using the first ever 6-let... by zhengyi13 on Sunday January 29, 2017 @07:58PM (#13517875)
At the risk of oversimplifying, because "even the very wise cannot see all ends."

Unknown unknowns. You can know your specific problem domain inside and out, and still have other things show up that rapidly invalidate your assumptions about the set of possible outcomes.

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Re:New organisms have been formed using the first ever 6-let... by klibertp on Sunday January 29, 2017 @04:16PM (#13516712)
Just noting: not getting/ignoring the joke should not be the reason for downvotes.
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Re:New organisms have been formed using the first ever 6-let... by madebysquares on Sunday January 29, 2017 @10:53AM (#13514629)
Just making a joke
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Re:New organisms have been formed using the first ever 6-let... by SpicyPython on Sunday January 29, 2017 @11:20AM (#13514818)
Welcome, to Jurassic Park!
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