synthetic life

A common argument used by theists to support their belief in God, is that life is so complicated that it could have only been made by God. Often this is accompanied with the assertion that there is a "vital force" that separates inanimate objects from living things, and that God is the source of this "vital force". This philosophy, called "vitalism", has now been totally discredited. The following research report in the highly respected peer-reviewed journal Science details the de novo creation of a complete functional virus from synthetic chemicals.

Some people will probably say that a virus is not a living thing, but that all depends on how you define life. Clearly a simple virus is not as complex as a mammal, but it does have much more properties associated with living things than properties associated with inanimate objects. For example viruses reproduce, evolve, contain genetic information, and have a life cycle. These are characteristics in common with a pet dog, not a pet rock.

Even today, the study of chemistry is divided into "organic" and "inorganic" chemistry. This is a throwback to an era when it was believed that only living things could create the carbon bonds that define the difference between organic and inorganic chemistry. This has been discredited in 1828, when Wöhler synthesized urea. The year 2002 marks another milestone in science, with man's first creation of a virus, a living thing, from nonliving material.

I have copied the complete article here along with the author's supplemental material at the end.

Cello, J; Paul, A; Wimmer, E, Chemical Synthesis of Poliovirus cDNA: Generation of Infectious Virus in the Absence of Natural Template, Science 2002 297: 1016-1018")