Evolution theory.

Serratedproboscis, Read the article. It's misleading. All they did was use cellular organelles (probably some type of RNA where a vector was used) and tricked a cell to produce more DNA or tRNA or RNA. Nothing revolutionary. There calling it artificial because they tricked a cellular organism to produce DNA. This is just another form of biotechnology. See biotechnology. Experimentation is done like this to lower degrees in undergraduate molecular biology education. So no new novel form of DNA was synthesized from scratch that has never been created. If such a feat could be done... those individuals would receive Nobel prizes for the next century.

My bad. Wrong link. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/05/scientists-create-first-self-replicating-synthetic-life/ My point is this. They solved M-theory? I think they can probably create synthetic life, where chemicals behave and react in predetermined ways to produce tissues, etc. After all, that's what our body does anyway. We're just chemicals--albeit highly specific and incredibly complex chemical chains that have learned to work together to create a cell.

I think is was Bella that mention we will see the progenitor of the Alien in Prometheus... pro·gen·i·tor/prəˈjenətər/ Noun: 1. A person or thing from which a person, animal, or plant is descended or originates; an ancestor or parent. 2. A person who originates an artistic, political, or intellectual movement. IMO the progenitor is the creator, thus the Space Jockey's.

Serratedproboscis, It's the same as the other. This time, if I read right, they just synthesized the nucleotides. That's nothing new as well. Synthetic organic chemist have been doing this for a long time. Furthermore the sequence they inserted was already known, respectfully. In the end, there utilizing another cells machinery for the work. It's biotechnology all over again. However, I completely understand the point your making. To an extent we're taking things just a little too far now. It's just a movie. But here's a point. Suppose they solve M-Theory or Loop Quantum Gravity (two schools of thought that are trying to unify the four forces of the universe). It would be a marvel of scientific achievement, but if there's one thing we know about such grand discoveries is they take a long time to fully comprehend. Discovering an equation for M-Theory gives an equation of complete understanding of everything (the beginning of the universe; what's inside a black hole; and mechanisms of worm holes if the theory allows). However you know the physics, it may take centuries before you could do anything with the theory... the technology. The greatest achievement by man kind so far have been [b]quantum mechanics[/b](non relativistic quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, quantum electrodynamics, weak theory, and quantum chronodynamics) and [b]general relativity[/b]. Quantum mechanics is the revolution that has advanced and is responsible for the exponential growth of technology over the last several decades. It's responsible for computers, new materials, LED's, nuclear technology, and countless others. However, do we really know how to harness the true potential of quantum mechanics? No. We know the equations of quantum mechanics but they're so complex-we only know how to harness its power in the most simplest cases. But we're learning quickly, but it's a very difficult endeavor. The point is we haven't scratched the surface of quantum mechanics and this theory is so deep nobody knows how deep and the potential of the theory goes. We don't even know what quantum mechanics really means. It's such an esoteric theory, we don't comprehend it intuitively. We cracked the code of quantum mechanics over 70 years ago and we've made large leaps in technology but we're far from utilizing this science in application. Our mathematics and comprehension isn't powerful enough. The same goes for many of the biosciences. If we could create new novel complex DNA it would mean we could eradicate all diseases, stop the aging process, create complex organisms, create our own evolution, create perfect species, and discover new potentials that we can't even comprehend.

Serratedproboscis, It's the same as the other. This time, if I read right, they just synthesized the nucleotides. That's nothing new as well. Synthetic organic chemist have been doing this for a long time. Furthermore the sequence they inserted was already known, respectfully. In the end, there utilizing another cells machinery for the work. It's biotechnology all over again. However, I completely understand the point your making. To an extent we're taking things just a little too far now. It's just a movie. But here's a point. Suppose they solve M-Theory or Loop Quantum Gravity (two schools of thought that are trying to unify the four forces of the universe). It would be a marvel of scientific achievement, but if there's one thing we know about such grand discoveries is they take a long time to fully comprehend. Discovering an equation for M-Theory gives an equation of complete understanding of everything (the beginning of the universe; what's inside a black hole; and mechanisms of worm holes if the theory allows). However you know the physics, it may take centuries before you could do anything with the theory... the technology. The greatest achievement by man kind so far have been [b]quantum mechanics[/b](non relativistic quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, quantum electrodynamics, weak theory, and quantum chronodynamics) and [b]general relativity[/b]. Quantum mechanics is the revolution that has advanced and is responsible for the exponential growth of technology over the last several decades. It's responsible for computers, new materials, LED's, nuclear technology, and countless others. However, do we really know how to harness the true potential of quantum mechanics? No. We know the equations of quantum mechanics but they're so complex-we only know how to harness its power in the most simplest cases. But we're learning quickly, but it's a very difficult endeavor. The point is we haven't scratched the surface of quantum mechanics and this theory is so deep nobody knows how deep and the potential of the theory goes. We don't even know what quantum mechanics really means. It's such an esoteric theory, we don't comprehend it intuitively. We cracked the code of quantum mechanics over 70 years ago and we've made large leaps in technology but we're far from utilizing this science in application. Our mathematics and comprehension isn't powerful enough. The same goes for many of the biosciences. If we could create new novel complex DNA it would mean we could eradicate all diseases, stop the aging process, create complex organisms, create our own evolution, create perfect species, and discover new potentials that we can't even comprehend.

I still think that it is impossible for David to be impregnated by anything, and give birth to a bio-mechanical being. WE have to remember that the original Alien took place about 50 years after the Prometheus mission. And when Ash is killed, we see what he is made of. I'm going to assume, that in fifty years Weyland's androids have become more advanced, however, from seeing what Ash is made of, we must assume that David is made of the same stuff. He doesn't have organs, or blood. Even if he somehow became infected, I don't think anything would be able to live in side of him, and would most likely be rejected. Even if these advanced beings somehow created a molecular substance that was able to create/or manipulate life, it would still be impossible to change the structure of David's mechanical anatomy. It would be silly if somehow his wires were turned into organs.

I still think it is impossible for David to interact with this molecular substance. We have to remember that the prometheus mission occurred 50 years before the nostromo mission. And when Ash is killed, we see what he is made of. I'm going to assume that Weyland's androids had many improvements at this point, however we see that Ash's body is make of wires and bleeds a milky substance. I'm going to assume that David is most likely made of the same materials. Even if this organic substance that the crew finds is able to create/manipulate life, anything that possibly infects David would most likely be rejected. Also, if this organic substance was so far advanced to be able to transform matter, it would be silly and fantastical that it would be able to turn wires into organs.

I would expect synthetic to mean cyborg to some degree. An artifical skeleton with flesh cultivated over it. The flesh would be based on donor dna, and would account for them all looking the same. (Bishop). The bio-mechanical nature I initially refered to is the metal teeth and general nature of the beast.

Maybe the goo doesn't need DNA to become active. Given it's use in Terraforming planets and creating new life, it might not need DNA to start it's cycle.

How do we know that the goo is terraforming planets?

I dont think the goo has anything to do with "terraforming" planets. I think the Engineers simply select worlds that already have the basic building blocks in place and seed life into these worlds using variations of their DNA forms that are suited to whatever particular planetoid/moon/whatever.

@ Corey; I heard it was used for that in an article. That the SJ would use it to "seed" new life onto barren planets, effectively terraforming them. I assumed it needed no extra DNA to begin the transformation. However, Canadaphil makes a good point, maybe the planets chosen have the beginnings of life such as bacteria or whatever. Which brings us to David8; who knows what the SJ technology is like? Maybe it can work with any matter, the fact David is synthetic is not a problem for the transformation cycle to begin and that David does in fact become a host, thus creating a new Xenomorph that is biomechanical in structure.

@Svanya: The goo may seed new life on the planet, but terraforming is a process of changing the atmosphere of a planet to make the air breathable and habitable for a human beings. I don't think the Engineers terraformed at all. I think that CanadaPhil was on the right track in saying that they selected planets with basic building blocks to seed life into these worlds. But the life that would exist in these worlds would be able to live in whatever atmosphere that world had. I think the engineers were able to modify the DNA to make whatever life form they created able to thrive in that world. I'm thinking that the Engineers came to earth once, saw how the atmosphere was, did a bunch of scientific experiments to see what would be able to live in such a world, and thus they created human beings. But I don't think they were interested in terraforming at all. I think these beings were so far advanced that they were able to create life that could be suitable to any condition. I think they did this on purpose. They would create organisms that were able live in different conditions, and they would watch and study them.