Philip Ball for Nature, reporting on Researchers Take Step Toward Synthetic Life and Md. Scientists Create Full Chromosome of Synthetic DNA.

Scientists have succeeded in stitching together an entire bacterial genome, creating in the lab the full set of instructions needed to make a living thing. The stage is now set for the creation of the first artificial organism — and it could be achieved within the year.

From the archive:

Now, after three billion years, the Darwinian interlude is over.