LinkedIn Just finished reading George Church's "Regenesis"
This book changed how I see the world! It is full of incredible inventions and breakthroughs in bioengineering.
I didn't know that bacteria had already been observed 300 years ago. Even so, our understanding of Biology has progressed incredibly fast. Especically after merging with computer science.
Nature is incredible. Bacteria can turn sewage into electricity, they can make fuel, insulin and other pharmaceuticals and even human blood!
Small cells like E. coli and yeast are so complex that hundreds of PhDs have been done on them. It definitely puts things in perspective considering that it would take 100s of billions of E. coli cells to make up a human being in terms of volume.
I really don't know if the world is homogenously complex or by understanding how bacteria work we can easily proceed to a larger scale?
Handedness -- mirror molecules -- mirror life. Change the handedness of an entire organism. looks identical to current lik but radically different -- resistance to pathogens.
Abiogenesis. Natural selection of favouralbe reactions.
Longevity - naked mole rat. Immune to cancer.
Synthetic biology and genomic engineering increase intelligence enhance memory.
Bringing back extinct species -- de-extinction and the potential resurrection of extinct species -- synthetic biology. The ethical implications and the possible impact on ecosystems were also touched upon, making for a stimulating read.
Engineering Breathtaking inventions that started more than a decade ago. Why taking so long to become mainstream?
DNA sequencing evolution -- sequence all people and store it all in computers -- DNA facebook
Church's description of the potential for CRISPR to revolutionize gene editing and the various applications in medicine, agriculture, and beyond is truly captivating. However I often here people debating about whether or not this is the right thing to do. Church explains that people have been doing bio-engineering for hundreds of years. That's why there's people walking their 10cm tall dogs -- once wolves. For thousands of years we have been changing our surroundings to make them more comfortable and practical. Fluffy sofas and perfectly even floors are not exactly the work of nature... I always smile when I see bushes cut in perfect geometrical shapes. Church is arguing that instead of doing this old-school selection, better do it in the lab taking advantage of new technologies and doing it right.
Complexity agricultural revolution: genome engineering becomes a business Humans we have the capacity to reduce the complexity of a transportation system in expressions like "catch a train" or "catch a plane" all within 500 years of these things being inconceivable... Or even dangerous -- burnt. I'm sure we'll get there.
Tough read! Biology is not my field. But very good book :)
#GeorgeChurch #Regenesis #CRISPR #SyntheticBiology