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'Biology Will Be the Next Big Computing Platform' (wired.com)
An anonymous reader writes: "Amazon, but for Crispr." It's a notion that may sound far-fetched -- but it's exactly what Synthego, a Silicon Valley biotech startup, wants to be. Synthego's first product let scientists order a custom Crispr kit and have it delivered within a week; in the next few weeks, the startup will add custom Crispr'd human cell lines to its on-demand offerings, which will help scientists working on potentially life-saving medicines. Crispr, as this WIRED guide explains, "is a new class of molecular tools that scientists can use to precisely target and cut any kind of genetic material." It's revolutionizing biology -- but neither of Synthego's founders is a biologist. Turns out, in the ever-expanding industry around genome engineering, that's hardly a disqualifier.
Across the country, companies are trying to snag a seat on the fast-moving Crispr train. There's Inscripta, which is gunning to be the Apple of gene-editing by building the biological equivalent of the personal computer. In theory, that hardware will make gene editing as easy as pushing a button. And then there's Twist Biosciences, which can print out a powerful Crispr guide (the tool that identifies the bits of genetic code a scientist is hoping to target) on a single semiconductor chip -- the Intel of genome engineering, if you will. As Megan Molteni writes, "all these analogies to the computing industry are more than just wordplay." Rather, they offer a language for understanding the complex world of Crispr. "Crispr is making biology more programmable than ever before," Molteni writes. "And the biotech execs staking their claims in Crispr's backend systems have read their Silicon Valley history. They're betting biology will be the next great computing platform, DNA will be the code that runs it, and Crispr will be the programming language."
Across the country, companies are trying to snag a seat on the fast-moving Crispr train. There's Inscripta, which is gunning to be the Apple of gene-editing by building the biological equivalent of the personal computer. In theory, that hardware will make gene editing as easy as pushing a button. And then there's Twist Biosciences, which can print out a powerful Crispr guide (the tool that identifies the bits of genetic code a scientist is hoping to target) on a single semiconductor chip -- the Intel of genome engineering, if you will. As Megan Molteni writes, "all these analogies to the computing industry are more than just wordplay." Rather, they offer a language for understanding the complex world of Crispr. "Crispr is making biology more programmable than ever before," Molteni writes. "And the biotech execs staking their claims in Crispr's backend systems have read their Silicon Valley history. They're betting biology will be the next great computing platform, DNA will be the code that runs it, and Crispr will be the programming language."
Oh for the good old days, when an apostrophe meant "look out, 's' on the way!", and that's how we liked it.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
My startup is planning on being the next "Uber for Crispr". Our current valuation is $54.3B but we are looking at a $3T market. If you are interested in learning more, just message me.
I am amazed Crispr's potential to ease human suffering.
And I have no problem what so ever with the idea of "designer babies". As one who has to live with a few genetic diseases - they run in clusters, so I"m told - if a one could be spared such a physical and financial burden, I'm all for it.
And with people being basically bald apes, if a man who is 5' 5" and a woman who is 5' want to have a kid, they should be able to design them to be a bit taller because the fact is that height matters.
And if a couple who realize that they can't give their kid the talent to achieve in a very technical world want to buy their kid some talent in STEM, why not?
Or should we cling to "morality" or "Gods' decision" and have "stupid people" being born? Because the fact is that there are too many ditch diggers in the World.
Yeah this'll work out great for the Chinese political prisoners who become the test bodies. It'll be GREAT!
This is a recipe for disaster. The lunatics who know nothing about molecular biology can rave about it but don't realize that the mf drug addict at the curb might one day "sniff" some onto them and that will seal their lives. We need a moratorium on CRISPR pronto https://mcb.berkeley.edu/news-and-events/department-news/doudna-and-other-scientists-seek-worldwide-moratorium-human-genome
More human THAN human. And by 2019, they won't have longevity expiration dates.
'Biology Will Be the Next Big Computing Platform'
Yes, biological computing will be awesome. However first things first.
I suggest that everyone reading this go up the stairs to the kitchen and take out the trash for his mom. Be a good son for a change. 'K? Try to be nice to her today. 'K?
its CRISPR
no idea what Crispr is
This sounds great. Also, add AI and block-chain technology.
-Dave
I'm writing a novel based on some of the reported advances. I started it 20 years ago, as a grad student in biology with an interest in computers. I gave up biology and now I'm a software engineer, I return to writing my novel once in a while for relaxation. My novel covers some of the same ground as the news, over the years I have steadily watched my "fiction" slowly become "fact", so now I tell people I really have to get the thing published before it becomes less like speculation, and more like an industry blog.
I will reveal this. The technology in my novel ends up watching humans drive themselves to extinction, then simply steps into our position as apex species without skipping a beat. History never records that change. Be careful what you long for.
=^..^= all your rodent are belong to us
Aside from the fact Theranos should have made it abundantly clear that Silicon Valley is nothing but marketing and sales shills who have no place in tech, let alone science - this is overwhelmingly bad. Offering GM Human cell lines is fucked, even offering GM mammal cell lines is fucked. The GM isn't even the bad part of that. It is super easy for things to mutate in a mammal cell culture, then infect the researcher, then infect others. It's even possible (as in likely, not "possible" as in "it could happen") for a virus to mutate cross-species when it infects mammal cells in culture a researcher comes in contact with. Even in the DIYbio community the general consensus is "don't fuck with mammal cell cultures unless you absolutely have to, and do it in a proper lab."
We taught a little of this in some of our engineering courses this Spring. Suppose gene A down-regulates gene B, and gene B down-regulates gene A. Then if (A,B) is your network state, (1,0) and (0,1) are stable states, and all intermediate states go back to one of these. This is a bistable toggle. It's a way to write a bit of data to a cell.
Now, add two more genes: A promotes P which blocks A. B promotes Q which blocks B. This turns the system into a biological oscillator. Now you have a system click with tics (A up and B down) and tocs (A down and B up). Fun stuff.
OpenSource.MathCancer.org: open source comp bio
Darwin: Actually, biology was the original computing platform.
Wallace: I said it first!
Mendel: No, it was me!
[whispered] shove your peas up your butt
Mendel: Who said that? I'll smash his fucking face in!
Darwin & Wallace, in unison: Lamarck, like always.
God: Play nice, or I'll send you all back as tapeworms.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
What could possibly go wrong?
I have worked with Crispr/Cas9 for the past two years and have used the very nice product of one of the companies cited in the article (Synthego). This article makes no sense whatsoever. You can replace every instance of Crispr in the article with Blockchain and it will make exactly as much sense and be even better clickbait. Two of the companies offer cheap DNA/RNA synthesis service. The third one has cloned yet another Cas9 related enzyme, but still needs to show that the enzyme is of any use. Where does the "computing platform" come from is a mystery to me.
No, it won't. Investors beware.
For Pete's sake! It's CRISPR; it's an acronym and not a word so it needs to be all incapitals. I'm getting really tired of the /. editors not bothering to actually edit the posts they approve. The level of English diction here is just terrible and getting worse by the month.
Biology is a social construct.
So that means all those analogies to the computing industry are like "the CPU is the brain of the computer" and "the internet is a series of tubes."
Your ad here. Ask me how!
So now DNA is self-modifying code?
Neat.
Cue ob. Dr Malcom in 3...2...1...
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
You mean these guys: https://www.tyrrellscrisps.co.uk/
They know loads about Crisps
I copied the name from Google, it it looked right when I pasted it, but somehow it changed during posting.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
Every new thing, some breathless journo, hyping it up.