A few weeks ago we recorded a conversation with George Church, a Harvard University geneticist and one of the founders of modern genomics. In the resulting podcast, you'll hear Church offer his thoughts on the coming transformation of medicine, whether genes should be patentable, and whether the public is prepared to deal with genetic data.

Here's how Church characterizes the state of genomics:

"It's kind of like '93 on the Web. In fact, in a certain sense, it's more sophisticated than electronics because we have inherited three billion years of amazing technology that was just like a spaceship that was parked in our back yard and we're just reverse-engineering and probably not fully utilizing even the stuff that we've discovered so far."

For more about this episode and links related to the things we discussed, visit http://radar.oreilly.com/2013/07/podcast-george-church-genomics-spaceship-parked-in-our-back-yard.html

[Thumbnail image courtesy Harvard University Center for the Environment]

More on this episode

George Church on genomics: "Like a spaceship that was parked in our back yard"

Dr. “George Church is one of the most brilliant scientists in the world,” says Steven Pinker on the front cover of Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves.

Regenesis is the recent book that Church wrote together with Ed Regis, where the authors “imagine a future in which human beings have become immune to all viruses, in which bacteria can custom-produce everyday items, like a drinking cup, or generate enough electricity or biofuel to end oil dependency. Building a house would entail no more work than planting a seed in the ground…”

These are just few low-hanging fruits that the tree of synthetic biology may provide for us. So why is it that some scared pundits are calling it “the most dangerous idea”?!…

During my Singularity 1 on 1 interview with George Church we discuss the above plus a variety of other topics such as: how he got interested in genetics and why he considers himself more of a technologist and inter-disciplinarian; the synthetic biology revolution of the past few years (beating Moore’s Law by a factor of 6); his views on religion; his dyslexia, high cholesterol and other mutations; 23andMe and DNA testing in general; the difference between genetics and synthetic biology; transhumanism, faith, mirror organisms and mirror humans; intellectual property rights and patenting living organisms; genomics and longevity…

My two favorite quotes from Dr. Church are:

“Inactivity and complacency are the most dangerous ideas… and assuming things will be fine if we do nothing.”

“We should not assume things will stay the way they are. Or that inactivity is the right path.”

George Church: Inactivity and Complacency Are The Most Dangerous Ideas

What sorts of breakthroughs are possible by modifying an organism’s genome – something researchers are now able to do ever more cheaply and efficiently? Researchers around the world are already able to program microbes to treat waste water, generate electricity, manufacture jet fuel, create hemoglobin, and fabricate new drugs. What sounds like science fiction to most of us might be a reality in our lifetimes: the ability to build diagnostic tools that live within our bodies, or find ways to eradicate malaria from mosquito lines, or possibly even to make genetic improvements in humans that are passed down to future generations. Wyss Institute Founding Core Faculty Pam Silver and George Church discuss the high-impact benefits of their synthetic biology work, as well as how they manage the potential of unintended consequences.

Disruptive: Synthetic Biology

George Church
Responsibility, art & science of intentional extinction, de-extinction & aging
Wednesday, Feb 17, 2016

ArtScience @ Le Lab Lecture Series: Art, Design, Engineering & Biology – Core Faculty from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University discuss how the arts and design are informing the frontiers of science.

ArtScience @ Le Lab is a free, biweekly evening seminar series organized for the general public in the magical "Honeycomb" of Le Lab Cambridge and Café ArtScience. Artists, designers, scientists, chefs, engineers, perfumers -- and more -- talk about creativity and culture at the edges of art, science and design. For more information, please visit http://www.lelaboratoirecambridge.com or http://wyss.harvard.edu.

George Church: Responsibility, art & science of intentional extinction, de-extinction & aging

DIrk Knemeyer interviews George Church of the Personal Genome Project at the GET Conference 2016 in Boston.

The Digital Life

An Interview with George Church of the Personal Genome Project

Jim Thomas speaking at the Redesigning the Tree of Life: Synthetic Biology and the Future of Food conference, Toronto, Ontario, Nov 3, 2017

Jim Thomas - Redesigning the Tree of Life: Synthetic Biology and the Future of Food - Nov 2, 2017

Drew Endy speaking at the Redesigning the Tree of Life: Synthetic Biology and the Future of Food conference, Toronto, Ontario, Nov 3, 2017

Drew Endy - Redesigning the Tree of Life: Synthetic Biology and the Future of Food - Nov 2, 2017

On The Digital Life podcast this week, we chat about the Human Genome Project Write. Synthetic biologists are building the engineering blueprint for life: a human cell that contains all the DNA it needs to produce more human cells. Such a blueprint could be a significant step towards major medical breakthroughs, including wiping out genetic diseases. 

Synthetic biologists build DNA using specialized bio-informatics design software to write the code. In the lab, this DNA code is then chemically synthesized. The software tools for this process, however, are still at their formative stages, and lack the necessary abstraction layer. Synthetic biologists must still work at the most basic level of DNA code—the A,C,G, and Ts—unlike, say computer coders who usually stay several layers above the 0s and 1s. 

Some of the other challenges this project will face include creating a legal framework and policy to govern the technology, establishing rules around intellectual property, and even coming to a shared understanding of ethical boundaries and prohibitions across the genomic research community. Join us as we discuss.

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The Human Genome Project Write

On The Digital Life this week, we chat about synthetic biology and the new categories of emergent life that will result from its practice. The work of synthetic biologists is changing the way that life evolves. How can we sort through the new categories of life that will be designed by humans, not necessarily evolved through natural selection? And what is the nature and role of digital information — genetic data that will now define a blueprint of a newly designed life form? Join us as we discuss.

Synbio Life

In this episode, we learn all about membranes and the Build-a-Cell project with Dr. Neha Kamat.

You can find out more about Dr. Kamat's research at her lab website, https://www.nehakamat.com/.

Here's a link to the Build-a-Cell website if you're interested in the cool stuff going on in this project: http://buildacell.io/engineering/.

Intro music by Chris Zabriskie, "Is That You or Are You You?", modified under an Attribution license, http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chris_Zabriskie/Reappear/04_-_Is_That_You_or_Are_You_You.

11 - Build-a-Cell Workshop (w/ Dr. Neha Kamat)

WEEK IN REVIEW (Tune in around 6:52 for commentary)

- Just how sustainable is that synbio startup?
- Running a lean kitchen like Google and Sodexo is the path to food waste prevention
- Overdriving your headlights on climate risk
- A clear-cut case for business action on deforestation
- Most major companies failing to report on deforestation risks

FEATURES
Drawing down carbon, one neighborhood at a time (21:45)
The Cool Block program, created by nonprofit Empowerment Institute, encourages households to reduce carbon footprints through neighborhood advocacy and coaching — plus action-oriented recipes that help people plan with the climate in mind. The initial pilots in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Palo Alto, California, are being supported by a unique collaboration between Empowerment, the cities and Josie Marian Cosmetics. We chat with platform director Sue Lebeck.
*Music in this episode by Jesse Spillane ("Torchlight Tango) and Lee Rosevere ("Try Anything Once" and "Wandering")

Episode 181: Cool neighbors, synthetic biology, the buzz on deforestation

Sustainable, ethical, both, neither? Synthetic biology allied to other technologies like AI, Internet-of-Things and 3D printing will change not only our world but how we think of ourselves as human. This podcast introduces synbio for novices and explains how it can positively affect sustainability and health as well as pose huge ethical challenges for the world. It is aimed at professional investors interested in sustainable investing and no action should be taken on it. It does not contain advice.

Synthetic Biology: life will be different

Dr. Camille Delebecque, M.Sc., PhD is Co-Founder & CEO of Afineur, a company that sustainably processes raw agriculture into plant-based meats and optimizes the flavor profiles of various foods using the latest advances in fermentation & enzymology. He also operates two other companies: (1) SOIL.BIO (Founder & CEO), a startup that aims to develop proprietary mixtures of microbes that enrich the soil with nutrients and improve crop yields and (2) SynBio Consulting (Founder & Partner), where he works with companies, governmental institutions, universities, and investment funds to assist in the deployment of novel biotechnologies. In this episode, Camille shares what it was like to start his first company (Omeecs, a biomanufacturing startup), his experience serving on the Advisory Board of the European Commission, how he managed the turnaround of Microbes Biosciences as their Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), and the status of the companies that he currently operates (Afineur, SOIL.BIO, SynBio Consulting). Furthermore, we discuss how he built his technical & business skills during graduate school, the lessons he learned while starting multiple businesses, and emerging applications of synthetic biology in food & agriculture.

Hosted by Cynthia Steinhardt and Roshan Chikarmane.

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BIOHACKER XXIII