Synthetic Life

How far we can go from now? Which are the implications of the downgrade of life?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/may/20/craig-venter-synthetic-life-form
Craig Venter team has just opened an immense new gate for an universe that we have no idea how to behave, the ethical and practical implications are probably the most significants since human beings started to have conscious of themselves.
I dare to say that the universe has changed today.