ENGINEERED LIFE FORMS will likely expand the repertoire of the simplest single cell organisms first (Venter 2010), because they are the least difficult to engineer. These extremely diverse and plentiful creatures occur in almost all ecological niches, with astonishing metabolic diversity. By splicing the DNA of one form with another, it is probable that useful organisms will be created; and equally, the potential exists for the creation of formidable pathogens and destructive life forms.