And why it's the news?

Adding or removing protons to or from atoms is nothing new at all. People do it since mid-1900. Nature do that since the beginning of times.

Creating gold is kind of "jump the shark" for such lab. Not much different from making iron from nickel or aluminium from sulfur. Gold is too cheap to make creating it from other elements in any way profitable.

I'll be much more exited about producing technetium in market quantities or some even more rare and expensive elements. Or if they finally find that "stability island" among transuraniums. Who wouldnt want naquadah?

Gold is not the metal that will ever justify using this technology of elements creation to make it. Gold is everywhere and cheap as dirt in comparison with things that really interesting.