WASHINGTON, Oct 6: Celebrity US scientist Craig Venter has built a synthetic chromosome using chemicals made in a laboratory, Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported on Saturday.

A Venter spokeswoman, however, declined to confirm any breakthrough.

“We have not achieved what some have speculated we have in synthetic life,” she said. “When we do so there will be a scientific publication and we are likely months away from that.”

Venter, however, told The Guardian that he is to announce the discovery within weeks and could possibly unveil it as early as Sunday

The breakthrough, which Venter hopes could help develop new energy sources to combat global warming, would be “a very important philosophical step in the history of our species,” he told the newspaper.

“We are going from reading our genetic code to the ability to write it. That gives us the hypothetical ability to do things never contemplated before,” he added.—AFP

Opinion

Editorial

Centre vs provinces
Updated 10 Jun, 2026

Centre vs provinces

The reason the centre finds itself in this position is rooted in its failure to expand the tax net and boost revenues.
Party in crisis
10 Jun, 2026

Party in crisis

THE young KP chief minister must be starting to realise just how thorny a seat he occupies. There has been a flurry...
Varsity woes
10 Jun, 2026

Varsity woes

FINANCIAL crises affecting public sector universities across Pakistan are now having an impact on academic...
Doctor attacked
09 Jun, 2026

Doctor attacked

AN act of reprehensible violence has shaken the medical community. On Saturday, an employee of the Provincial Civil...
AJK flare-up
Updated 09 Jun, 2026

AJK flare-up

The situation started deteriorating after a trader affiliated with the JAAC was reportedly shot in an altercation with law-enforcers.
Fault lines
09 Jun, 2026

Fault lines

THE April 8 ceasefire that halted hostilities between Israel and Iran has encountered its most serious test yet....