AUSTRALIA'S patent laws need to be updated for the 21st century to accommodate a range of frontier technologies in the life sciences.

Recently J. Craig Venter and his institute filed a patent application in respect of a minimal bacterial genome that they have dubbed Mycoplasma laboratorium.

The contentious scientist declared: "My company, Synthetic Genomics Inc, is already trying to develop cassettes - modules of genes - to turn an organism into a bio-factory that could make clean hydrogen fuel from sunlight and water or soak up more carbon dioxide." The ETC Group, a bunch of Canadians opposed to synthetic biology, has dubbed the artificial organism Synthia, the Original Syn Organism. The group complains that synthetic biology poses ethical and environmental concerns about the use of biodiversity to build new life forms. According to the group's representative Pat Mooney, "Synthetic biology is a form of extreme genetic engineering that has enormous implications for everyone who lives on this planet."

The controversy over synthetic biology has reignited a longstanding debate over the law and the ethics of patenting life.