"We're heading into an era where people will be writing DNA programs like the early days of computer programming..." Drew Endy, MIT.
"I see a cell as a chassis and power supply for the artificial systems we are putting together..." Tom Knight, MIT.
Great introductory article on synthetic biology (synbio) by Rick Weiss in the
Washington Post:
At the core of synthetic biology's new ascendance are high-speed DNA synthesizers that can produce very long strands of genetic material from basic chemical building blocks: sugars, nitrogen-based compounds and phosphates. Today a scientist can write a long genetic program on a computer just as a maestro might compose a musical score, then use a synthesizer to convert that digital code into actual DNA. Experiments with "natural" DNA indicate that when a faux chromosome gets plopped into a cell, it will be able to direct the destruction of the cell's old DNA and become its new "brain" -- telling the cell to start making a valuable chemical, for example, or a medicine or a toxin, or a bio-based gasoline substitute.
A nod towards platform development (smart):
If biology is to morph into an engineering discipline, it is going to need similarly standardized parts, Knight said. So he and colleagues have started a collection of hundreds of interchangeable genetic components they call BioBricks, which students and others are already popping into cells like Lego pieces.
Essentially, the tinkering networks we see in the software industry will be mirrored in
synbio. Further, the skill sets associated with synthetic biology will be as widely dispersed as software programming is today and the tools will be just as inexpensive/ubiquitous. The implications of this for open source warfare are world altering.
time to read some psycho-neurobiology, would recommend books by Gerald Edelman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Edelman
good place to start,
Posted by: michael | Monday, 17 December 2007 at 09:51 PM
Eventually, maintaining the resources to enable "when you need it" DNA restoration to baseline might just become the new floor of human survivability. Hopefully *that* technology is going to become just as available, just as cheaply as the offensive stuff.
Posted by: TM Lutas | Thursday, 20 December 2007 at 10:08 AM
An intersting article by Roger Brent, interestingly, the defensive capabilities have not nearly caught up with the offensive capabilities:
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/34914
And of course, GWB is basically doing: nothing, however some local health departments are doing innovative work here:
http://enigmafoundry.wordpress.com/2007/04/19/the-undefended-country/
Posted by: enigma_foundry | Thursday, 27 December 2007 at 01:14 AM