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Stanford Bioengineers Create Rewritable Digital Data Storage In DNA
An anonymous reader writes "You don't hear too much about biological computing but in research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists reveal they have devised the genetic equivalent of a binary digit (full article, freely available) — a 'bit' in data parlance. 'It took us three years and 750 tries to make it work, but we finally did it,' according to Jerome Bonnet, of research which describes, a method for repeatedly encoding, storing and erasing digital data within the DNA of living cells."
I also RTFA'ed a few times, and so far, all I can demise is that we're screwed. Skynet wins. But then again, I Am Not A Biologist. (IANAB).
Hawking said this would happen, btw.
You can't be ahead of the curve, if you're stuck in a loop.
This reminds me of a fantastic book called Blood Music by the science fiction author Greg Bear. In the book a geneticist working on biochip development develops a system for storing and transmitting information between single cells using DNA and RNA. He creates cells that are able to communicate and incorporate elements of RNA and as such optimise themselves to overcome environmental challenges. He soon sees the emergence of rudimentary intelligence on a cellular basis, but is shut down before he can pursue his experiments further. He smuggles his creations out of the lab by injecting them into his own body, which proves to be a perfect environment for the development of full intelligence....
I was thinking of the same episode. It's weird how we've surpassed almost all of the science fiction of my youth, let alone that written before I was born. In 1966 everything in Star Trek was pure fantasy -- doors that opened all by themselves, space shuttles, talking voice-activated computers with flat screens, communicators, McCoy's sick bay (you kids can't imagine how primitive medicine was in 1966), Uhura's bluetooth earpiece... all fantasy that nobody ever expected to actually see in their lifetimes. Yet the only things from STOS we don't have today is matter replicators and warp drives.
I live in the science fiction future of my youth!
Free Martian Whores!