Artificial Life?

The UK Telegraph reports,

Laboratories across the world are closing in on a “second genesis” – an achievement that would be one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of all time.

Prof David Deamer, from California University, said although building a new lifeform from scratch is a daunting task he is confident it can happen in five to 10 years.

This article piqued my interest surprisingly.  We have been discussing the issue of life in my philosophy class and so far, we have spent two entire lectures on whether or not robots/machines, etc. could or should be considered a lifeform.  Other such questions have been asked.  For instance, do cocklear implants (for the ears) or small brain chips to cure amnesia, etc. de-humanize someone?  What if someone were to have more than half of their brain replaced to correct someone, are they still human at that point?  Could robots eventually become a person (something that doesn’t just spit out what it’s programmed, but rather is conscious)?

It’s a very interesting topic and one that is pertinent in todays age.  Even though I have some reservations about it all of this, it’s still a reality that will probably happen in the next twenty years.