We have all seen it, the machines with bolts of electricity smashing into each other. The grotesque lab assistant raising the body up to the roof, during the lightning storm and the bolt striking the lightning rod. The body quivers as electrical current races through it and the hand starts to move. Dr. Frankenstein says, "it's alive!", and the monster opens it's eyes. We used to call this a horror movie, but today a better description would be a science fiction movie. What is the difference? Horror movies are pure fantasy and concern things that scare us, but science fiction movies contain scientific elements that may come true some day. Just look at star trek. Remember that communicator? You should, because your cell phone looks just like it and many even operate the same way if you have a flip phone. Recently I watched all the old episodes of Science Fiction Theatre. This was one of the first tv science fiction shows and it was amazing how much of what they talked about has come true today. For example, one story was about a huge computer that filled a large room and it's function was to translate several languages into english. We can do this anytime today on our home computers and a heck of a lot easier than they did it in the show. Another show was about an anti aging serum. Lately we have been experimenting hot and heavy with anti aging techniques. Then there was the episode about the creation of a sort of alien life by replicating the atmosphere of an alien planet and introducing electricity along with different elements. Will we ever be able to create any type of life in the laboratory? If we count artificial intelligence (A.I.) we may have already created a rudimentary form of life. It is very hard to tell if A. I. is life at all. The problem is that we might be able to make a machine that mimics life,but how would we ever know if it is just mimicking or thinking for itself? Oh different tests can be created to try and determine this, but in the end will we ever know for sure?

Biological life is a whole different issue. We think we understand the evolution of man. We thought we understood the dinosaurs until we figured out that some of the huge beasts in the Museum of Natural History in New York City had the wrong heads on the wrong bodies for many years. Are we right now? Who knows? In the end we are always finding out that we don't know as much as we think we do about things. It is possible that we are completely wrong on our theories of human evolution. For example, why is it that humans are just about the only species on this planet where only ONE type exists. There are many different types of birds, bugs, animals and subspecies of animals, fish etc. but only one type of human. Doesn't this seem to go against nature? How can this be explained in the natural order of things?

Right now there are many scientists hard at work in their various laboratories trying to create life from chemical compounds. They are not looking to create an animal or anything that complicated, just a microscopic life form that can duplicate itself. This is what they believe happened when the first life forms appeared on earth. Their belief is that if they can do this, then a single cell creature will evolve from it. Scientists believe that RNA which is ribonucleic acid, wrapped in a plain capsule is the best candidate for the material to use.

Japanese scientists stated that they believe we will create a living cell this century. They claim that the hurdle is figuring out how to produce the energy needed for cellular functioning outside the cell. These scientists are trying to accomplish this by mechanical ;means with a tiny motor. I guess if they succeed this would be a sort of cybernetic cell. I don't think that I could quite call it natural life, but it certainly would advance robotics.

There is a problem with these experiments, not everyone agrees that they should take place. As you can imagine, some religious people feel that creating life is God's job and that scientists have no business trying to do it . Others feel that this could advance things like our health. They state that along with this may come a better understanding of our bodies and life in general. I think that the problem here is that people have to understand that we are not talking about growing humans, although that could happen some day, we are talking about growing cells. Wouldn't it be something if someday we could take a barren planet, give it an atmosphere and water and populate it with animals and fish? And think if we could do all this by just combining chemicals that would produce all these effects. I personally don't see anything wrong with this but I respect the opinions of others.

So where does this research on life creation stand today. A scientist has designed the first fully functional three gene network in vitro that processes genetic input and manufactures proteins. He was able to do this with off the shelf biochemical components and many say that this is the first step in creating an informational process of the type found in a biological system. Other scientists have created a poliovirus from chemicals, this was accomplished at the Stony Brook lab on Long Island in New York. In,Germany scientists have created molecules that can copy themselves. We haven't,reached the stage where we can even create plant life but we are getting there. At the rate we are going, we may see some form of primitive life created in a laboratory within our lifetimes.