It's a weird world. This week we created the first synthetic life.
I want to be really positive about our scientific achievements, on the other hand distopia is a compelling thought. I guess it's the curse of being creative. When I learn something my mind wanders into countless possibilities of what might happen.
I can remember when I took microbiology in college. I learned two things from taking micro. First sterile practices completely elude me and I was constantly sick. The second thing I learned was at the end of my third term, my notes rarely covered the lectures.(I got pneumonia the first time I tried to take micro and had to withdraw. I got strep throat the second and had to withdraw. The third time I pushed vitamin C, took a multi-vitamin and was sick, but not seriously the whole semester. I think I passed with a C)
On the bright side my lecture notes from micro were filled with really great ideas for science fiction. In fact my micro notes were more about designer viruses tailored to specific genotypes. Or what would happen when a super bug got loose. I think my favorite notes were about a virus that rewrote your genetic code, basically it changed you from the base cells up. I may have revisit that as a story idea.
My mind still works this way. I love science and I love technology, but when I hear about it I have to let my mind wander and wonder where it might take us. While Craig Venter makes synthetic life seem so normal, and yet amazing I have to wonder where do we go from here? Are we creating a better world where we can design a bacteriophage that specifically eats cancer cells? Or are we just days away from unleashing, accidentally of course, the virus to start the zombie apocalypse? Does it seem strange to anyone else this discovery was announced during zombie awareness month?
Either way my mind is racing with possibilities. Below is the TED talk announcing the birth of synthetic life.
[ted id=863]
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