Original story is here.

Given my background, I found the last paragraph the most interesting:

But before researchers can do that level of synthetic biology, scientists will need to automate their methods. Beyond this work, Voigt said, scientists will need programming tools, in the same way computer scientists use higher level programming languages like Fortran, C++ and Java, to control computer function.

"(Otherwise it's like) writing Vista in binary," he said. "It's just not going to happen."

Before the debate goes to how scary it is for humans to play God (has anyone who programs never realized a bug after the product has been released? ;)), you have to admit this news is extremely exciting yet thrilling. Pandora's box's opened. Entropy of the universe always goes one way. It's double edged.

From Time, Jan 21, 2008 Issue.

"...Eating food grown within 100 miles was...basically telling the Iowans that every night they should decide whether to accompany their pork with creamed corn, corn on the cob, corn fritters or corn bread. For dessert, they could have any flavor they wanted of fake ice cream made from soy, provided that flavor was corn...

...The local-food movement is deeply Luddite, part of the green lobby that measures improvement by self-denial more than by actual impact—considering shipping food in containers is often more energy-efficient than a local farmer trucking small amounts that are then purchased on a separate weekend farmers'-market trip you take in your SUV. So I'm going to keep buying food from my foreign neighbors. Because it's the only way we Americans learn about other countries, other than by bombing them."

OMG, this is a BRILLIANT essay! The truth is, there are always ways to argue for and against an issue. Taking this "eating local" topic for example, if we don't change how the modern food supply system works, eating local by some is not going to work. Raising awareness, combining the merit of eating local with economic (and other) incentives, shall work better, just like the topic of global warming (who cares about global warming if the timing doesn't correlate with $100/barrel oil price?)