World's First Robot

This is a picture of the first robot in Karel Capek's sense: a bacteria with its entire genome written on a computer, an artificial life form. When it was created earlier this year by Craig Venter, Obama ordered that a bioethics committe investigate the possible dangers of the advance. I think the announcement poses more of a theological danger than biological. If life is really just another sort of computer program, what does that make us? It will be interesting to see what religion leaders have to say about it.