Scientists, including Harvard Medical School's Jack Szostak, expect an announcement within three to 10 years from someone in the now little-known field of "wet artificial life" created the first cell of synthetic life — made from the basic chemicals in DNA.

Szostak's prediction that scientists will soon report evidence that the first step — creating a cell membrane  using fatty acids —was announced this week

"Creating protocells has the potential to shed new light on our place in the universe,"

"This will remove one of the few fundamental mysteries about creation in the universe and our role."

And several scientists believe man-made life forms will one day offer the potential for solving a variety of problems, from fighting diseases to locking up greenhouse gases to eating toxic waste.

"We're talking about a technology that could change our world in pretty fundamental ways — in fact, in ways that are impossible to predict."