The science world is buzzing today over a study in Science, announcing the successful creation of an entirely synthetic genome. Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Maryland inserted a complete DNA sequence into an emptied bacterial cell to form what some are calling artificial life.

While the implications for genetics, evolution, and the very philosophy of life are already garnering debate, medicine might also enter the fray. The proper use of this new technology could yield, for example, therapeutic bacteria. University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Arthur Caplan comments on MSNBC that synthetic bacteria could be created to go after specific human infections or maladies, even things such as cholesterol in our system. (That idea could also be bolstered by the findings of another new Science study, this one on the first genetic sequencing of the human microbiome.)

A BBC News Q&A on the Venter study also mentions the possibility of creating bacteria to produce new vaccines. Surely, it’s just one of many ideas we’ll be hearing about in the coming days and years. With this advance, what do you expect to see down the pipeline? How would you like to see the synthetic genome applied to medicine? Let us know in the comments.

Images of synthetic (top, expressing blue reporter genes) and wildtype (bottom) Mycoplasma mycoides courtesy of Science/AAAS