| Well, there are degrees of "artificial". Years ago, we spliced an insulin producing gene into a bacteria's DNA: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/fromdnatobeer/exhibition-... This is taking a naturally occurring bacteria, and modifying it slightly. We are using the bacteria's existing protein production infrastructure to produce a peptide hormone. Check out how a ribosome works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=morl5e-jBNk It is, in some sense, a programmable robot arm that assembles structures from parts. As we have gotten better at understanding how these mechanisms work, we can tweak things further. We can imagine many directions for this to go in. Not just producing proteins with existing amino acids, but having the bacteria produce new ones with interesting properties. We could eventually be able to produce a wide array of chemicals, and not just organic compounds. Though the range of things that can be produced is still limited. The main thrust of molecular nanotechnology is to leave behind the protein synthesis that biological life uses, and instead be able to produce arbitrary structures from arbitrary atoms. This is a difficult and ambitious goal, but one that is imminently achievable. |