[tt] [Synthetic Biology] Rudy Rucker in Newsweek

[Eugen Leitl]

----- Forwarded message from Ian Holmes <ihh at berkeley.edu> -----

From: Ian Holmes <ihh at berkeley.edu> Date: Tue, 29 May 2007 09:17:25 -0700 To:
discuss at syntheticbiology.org Subject: [Synthetic Biology] Rudy Rucker in
Newsweek User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.10 (Macintosh/20070221)

Apologies if this was posted before.

Rudy Rucker is one of the godfathers of cyberpunk.... William Gibson meets
Sergeant Pepper.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18871466/site/newsweek/
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Our Synthetic Futures What might happen if we repurpose biology to our own
ends?  Daniel Bejar for Newsweek
 
Web-exclusive commentary

by Rudy Rucker

Newsweek

May 27, 2007 - The SynBio approach is onto something big—a new version of
nanotechnology, which is the craft of manufacturing things at the molecular
scale. SynBio’s plan is to capitalize on the fact that biology is already
doing molecular fabrication all the time. What might happen if we repurpose
biology to our own ends?

One big worry is what nanotechnologists call the “gray-goo problem.” What’s
to stop a particularly virulent SynBio organism from eating everything on
earth? My guess is that this could never happen. Every existing plant,
animal, fungus and protozoan already aspires to world domination. There’s
nothing more ruthless than viruses and bacteria—and they’ve been practicing
for a very long time.

The fact that the SynBio organisms are likely to have simplified Tinkertoy
DNA doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to be faster and better. It’s more
likely that they’ll be dumber and less adaptable. I have a mental image of
germ-size MIT nerds putting on gangsta clothes and venturing into alleys to
try some rough stuff. And then they meet up with the homies who’ve been
keeping it real for a billion years or so.

Now let’s look at the upside.Certainly it would be nice to have medi-germs
clean out your arteries, to have a diamond spider spinning ultrastrong carbon
fibers and to have vats of tweaked yeast producing any kind of chemical you
want. Can we go further? Donning the funhouse spectacles of science fiction,
I envision a wide range of biotech goodies.

One thing I’d like immediately would be some individually labeled
radiosensitive bacteria that I could scatter around my house. Once these “URL
germs” have spread, I’ll be able to Google through every item I own—no more
misplaced keys and glasses!

Every child is likely to want a pet dinosaur, and this will be easily managed
once the online Phido Pet Construction Kit is up and running. Of course, if
you prefer something cuddly, you can design a special dog with red polka
dots.

Rather than mining for ore, why not let plants use their roots to extract
minerals from the ground? Sow a handful of Knife Plant grain over a dumpsite,
and before long you’ll have what looks like corn—but with a cob-handled steel
knife in each ear.

Why bother building houses when you can get a Giga Gourd seed? The seed is
the size of a pizza and grows very fast. Push it into wet, fertile ground and
stand back. In a few days you’ll have a big, hollow home with plumbing and
wiring grown right into the walls, which come complete with transparent
window patches.

Of course, people will want to start tweaking their own bodies. Initially
we’ll go for enhanced health, strength and mental stability, perhaps
accelerating the pace of evolution in a benign way. This said, we should
remember that the history of humankind’s interventions with biology are rife
with unexpected consequences and unfortunate side effects.

But, feckless creatures that we are, we may cast caution to the winds. Why
would starlets settle for breast implants when they can grow supplementary
mammaries? Hipsters will install living tattoo colonies of algae under their
skin. Punk rockers can get a shocking dog-collar effect by grafting on a
spiky necklace of extra fingers with colored nails. Or what about giving one
of your fingers a treelike architecture? Work 10 two-way branchings into each
tapering fingerlet of this special finger, and you’ll have a thousand or so
fingertips, and the fine touch of a sea anemone.

It’s easy to imagine grafting an electric eel’s electromagnetic sensitivity
into our brains so we can pick up wireless signals. There’d have to be an
fail-safe off switch, of course, but the net effect could be amazing. We’d
have true telepathy, and the ability to form group minds.

As the technology of brain-to-brain contact improved, you’d no longer need to
send someone every detail of a plan, a memory or a design. Instead you could
send something like a mental Web link, allowing those you invite to simply
view your thoughts right in your own mind.

Obviously some of us will want gills so we can live undersea, and others will
go for polar-bear pelts so they can comfortably nap on the polar ice.

And why be hung up on having your body all in one piece? Be like the state of
Michigan; abandon contiguity. Who wouldn’t like a free-ranging extra hand
that scuttles under the bed or out to the garbage shed? And it’d be great to
have an extra eyeball that flaps around on hummingbird wings.

The biggest problem with manned spaceflight is the immense mass of the
requisite life-support systems and radiation shielding. What if the truly
determined astronauts could transform themselves into tough, spindle-shaped
pods that could sail endlessly through empty space, nourishing themselves
with solar radiation and directing their journey with the exhalations of
their ion jets?

One last thought. Suppose it were possible to encode a person’s memory and
personality into a single, very large, DNA-like molecule. Now suppose that
someone turns himself into a viral disease that other people can catch. If I
were you—sneeze—oh, wait, I guess I am. Are we completely agreed?

Rucker [rudyrucker.com] is an emeritus professor of computer science at San
Jose State University in California. He has published 17 science-fiction
novels. His latest is “Mathematicians in Love.”