Craig Venter, a maverick scientist and billionaire entrepreneur, has built a synthetic cell from scratch.  According to Mr. Venter, this provides huge opportunity for revolutionising healthcare and finding cures to the most devastating diseases of the 21st century.

But not everyone shares his optimism. Some scientists criticise the experiment as a "shot in the dark" and have turned against Mr. Venter describing him as an unscrupulous maniac playing god.  Venter denies these accusations and refuses to declare that he has created life.

"We've created the first synthetic cell," he says. "We definitely have not created life from scratch because we used a recipient cell to boot up the synthetic chromosome."

"It's the first self-replicating cell on the planet that's parent is a computer," he adds.

The breakthrough took 15 years and £27.7million to achieve and Craig´s team is made up of 20 scientists.

So whether Synthia becomes a future monster or a saint that heals pain and suffering in the world, Synthia will surely be followed very closely by fans and foes alike.