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Bacteria Made to Behave as Computers
hende_jman writes "Scientists at Princeton University successfully 'programmed bacteria to behave like computers, assembling themselves into complex shapes based on instructions stuffed into their genes.' Though applications may not come for awhile, the article says that in the future this technology may be used in devices to detect bioterrorism chemicals. The article also has pictures of the programmed E. coli."
Anybody else have visions of the Greg Bear book "Blood Music" when you read this?
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http://www.allscifi.com/Topics/info_5673.asp?BSID
I dream in binary.
All they need to do now is do this to a virus... then maybe we can give the virus a virus. Kinda funny, but it would be cool if it led to the desctuction of aids.
Yeah, and I feel stupider just for having done so. It reads like a bad novelization of a "major motion picture". As I read the book, I could just see Crichton sitting there thinking "OK, now I'll write in a couple cool CG special-effects shots for the movie".
I hear the movie deal was done before the book even came out. Unfortunately the plot and characters were overlooked, there's not a shred of originality in the whole thing. And the science doesn't even bear talking about.
I liked Jurassic Park, and Sphere was awesome, but his latest stuff is just trash. Crichton should just admit he knows very little about real science and go back to writing enjoyable science fiction that doesn't pretend to be a commentary on society's faith in technology and the scientific community.
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