The J. Craig Venter Institute announces that researchers there have succeeded in synthetically recreating the genome of the bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium.

William B. Hurlbut, a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics, discusses his proposed alternative to using embryonic stem cells in stem cell research.

Last week the U.S. observed the 20^th anniversary of the tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger. What can we learn on a personal level?

How can we minimize our risk of getting an infectious disease? Most people ignore the age-old wisdom revealed in the pages of the Bible.

With the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster still haunting Southeast Asia, Vision looks at other potential trouble spots on the earth's fragile surface.

Increasing numbers of DNA-based patents are being applied for on a daily basis. Vision examines some of the implications of the battle over who owns life.

Arguments in favor of life patenting.

When a company gets a patent on a biological product, it has monopoly rights and can charge any price it wants for that product.

Many believe that if living things can be patented, life is reduced to a mere commodity.

Many in the biotech industry say that patenting will boost research, while probably just as many think it will have an adverse effect.