Not exactly on topic, but somewhat related.
News Alert
from The Wall Street Journal
Scientists for the first time have created a synthetic cell, completely controlled by man-made genetic instructions, which can survive and reproduce itself, researchers at the private J. Craig Venter Institute announced Thursday. Created at a cost of $30 million, the experimental one-cell organism opens the way to the manipulation of life on a previously unattainable scale.
Synthetic Genomics, a company founded by Dr. Venter, funded the experiments and owns the intellectual property rights to the cell-creation techniques.
Scientists Create First Synthetic Cell - WSJ.com