Hack the Software of Life

[Sara S]

Hey, I want to thank all of you who made up captions for the New Yorker cartoon! My slogan: " Make me laugh, and I might make you a pie!"

Now, here's something different to think about, and there's probably some potential humor (and a lot of other stuff) in this:

I got seduced by the rack in front of Copperfield's, and got this book:

"Biopunk"- DIY Scientists Hack the Software of Life

by Marcus Wohlsen (2011)

Here's the first quote you see:

"Every orchid or rose...is the work of a dedicated and skilled breeder...Now imagine what will happen when the tools of genetic engineering become accessible to these people. There will be do-it-yourself kits for gardeners who will use genetic engineering to breed new varieties of roses and orchids. Also kits for lovers of pigeons and parrots and lizards and snakes to breed new varieties of pets. Breeders of dogs and cats will have their kits too. Domesticated biotechnology, once it gets into the hands of housewives and children, will give us an exposion of diversity of new living creatures."

Freeman Dyson, "Our Biotech Future,"
The New York Review of Books, July 19, 2007

And from the dust jacket blurb:

"...Wohlsen chronicles a growing community of DIY scientists who are committed to democratizing DNA the way the Internet did information. The "biohacking" movement, now in its early, heady days, aims to unleash genetically mogified innovation by making the tools of biotechnology accessible to everyone..."

I hardly read scientific stuff these days, except for geomancer's posts here, so this is all news to me; what do you think?

Sara

[podfish]

..."Biopunk"- DIY Scientists Hack the Software of Life... what do you think?

Sara

It mostly depends on how you feel about magic and cosmic purposefulness, though there's an aspect of more prosaic ethics as well.
If you are horrified, as were Frankenstein's neighbors, by the idea of man tampering in God's domain - or if you feel that there's some mystical magical spirit or spiritual force from which nature emanates, I bet you hate this stuff.
Even if you have a more humanistic view of where life and meaning came from, you still can legitimately worry about the cruel and inhumane uses of this kind of technology, whether purposefully like Dr. Moreau or accidentally.

But it's here and it's actually pretty cool. I think it's going to have pretty much the same social context as pet ownership. Some people think "ownership" is an unpleasant idea. Almost everyone thinks you owe your pet good care. And some people abuse animals, or breed them inhumanely. We're just going to see weirder spins on those basic human-animal interactions.

[handy]

"Biopunk"- DIY Scientists Hack the Software of Life

what do you think?

Sara

Luther Burbank

[Sara S]

Yeah, only with people, not plants.........it's human DNA they're talking about.

Luther Burbank

[podfish]

Yeah, only with people, not plants.........it's human DNA they're talking about.

the "people" part seems less likely for hackers. I've heard of experimentation with plants and animals - even bacteria, which is easier to do. They didn't used to call them 'hackers' but there were a lot more people building go-carts or customizing cars than there were people building spaceships in their back yards. It'll be a while before home-brew children are something you can create in the basement - unless you rely on tried-and-true old-school techniques that have worked for years.

[Sara S]

Here's some more from the dust jacket blurb:

"...biopunks are advocates for open-sourcing the basic code of life. They believe in the power of individuals with access to DNA to solve the world's biggest problems.
You'll meet a new breed of hackers who aren't afraid to get their hands wet, from entrepreneurs who aim to bring DNA-based medical tools to the poorest of the poor to a curious tinkerer who believes a tub of yogurt and a jellyfish gene could protect the world's food supply. These biohackers include:

*A duo who started a cancer drug company in their kitchen

*A team who built an open-source DNA copy machine

*A woman who developed a genetic test in her apartment for a deadly disease that had stricken her family

Along with the potential of citizen science to bring about significant change, (the author) explores the risks of DIY bioterrorism, the possibility of genetic experiments gone awry, and whether the ability to design life from scratch on a laptop might come sooner than we think."


This book was published in 2011; already they've been able to create real objects from printers.........

the "people" part seems less likely for hackers. I've heard of experimentation with plants and animals - even bacteria, which is easier to do. They didn't used to call them 'hackers' but there were a lot more people building go-carts or customizing cars than there were people building spaceships in their back yards. It'll be a while before home-brew children are something you can create in the basement - unless you rely on tried-and-true old-school techniques that have worked for years.

[podfish]

Here's some more from the dust jacket blurb:...

to nitpick about why I'm not very worried about human-hacking, at least in the sense that I suspect comes to most peoples' minds -- they're not talking about making modified clones. But you're right, some are going to mess with human genes. Some of the ones you mentioned are clearly doing that. If you're sensitive about stem-cell research, you might like this even less. But the level they're talking about is pretty much restricted to experiments with basic low-level biological processes in isolated cells. Gluing enough together so they can walk around or fly or whatever is a step that won't be taken soon if ever.
Now as for creating drugs or new bio-weapons that target human metabolic processes more accurately, that's a different question!