Frankenstein (artificial life form) seed also opposed

Golem-Frankenstein master Craig Venter and his colleagues have applied for a patent on a minimal-genome bacteria, which is sparking protests. First, here's the preliminary claim: United States Patent Application 20070122826 Minimal bacterial genome 1. A set of protein-coding genes that provides the information required for growth and replication of a free-living organism under axenic conditions in a rich bacterial culture medium, wherein the set lacks at least 40 of the 101 protein-coding genes listed in Table 2, or functional equivalents thereof, wherein at least one of the genes in Table 4 is among the lacking genes; wherein the set comprises between 350 and 381 of the 381 protein-coding genes listed in Table 3, or functional equivalents thereof, including at least one of the genes in Table 5; and wherein the set comprises no more than 450 protein-coding genes. I suggest the claim be written - I am not a fan of negative limitations - "... wherein the set lacks at least 40 of ..." - you can write this claim constructively ("most to all of the Table 3 genes, plus less than 60 of the Table 2 genes"). Legally, if you accept Chakrabarty, well, this invention is even more artificial, and even less a natural phenomenon, than the bacteria in Chakrabarty. This new application won't be shot down on caselaw grounds.