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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."
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.
Yeah this'll work out great for the Chinese political prisoners who become the test bodies. It'll be GREAT!
Once everyone is tall and smart then no one will be. See how that works?
More human THAN human. And by 2019, they won't have longevity expiration dates.
'Biology Will Be the Next Big Computing Platform'
Once everyone is tall and smart then no one will be. See how that works?
That is kind of the point. Taking away at least some of peoples' built in disadvantages that is.
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
I think there was a movie with a villain whose very aim was exactly that, even.
We need a moratorium on CRISPR pronto
Damn right. If you are fat, dumb, slow, short, near-sighted, a high cancer risk, etc. then your kids better damn well be cursed with the same afflictions. Only those lucky enough to be born beautiful, healthy, and smart should have beautiful, healthy, and smart babies. As God intended.
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
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
It doesn't work that way, what you're hoping for is still sci-fi. I have successfully engineered cell lines and mice by permanently altering their genomes using "classic" homologous recombination, which is less efficient than CRISPR but still works. This is not microelectronics or software development. The odds are still too high that any current genetic engineering method will result in a monster rather than a viable, healthy human. But I'm worried about is that Asia will not give a damn about any moratorium. Clinical tests will be conducted, people will die, and freaks will be born.
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
It's one thing to eliminate debilitating genetic conditions.
It's another to have designer genetics, carefully controlling height, eye color, hair color, whatever, things that in no way constrain ability to live, just a different cosmetic desire.
It's even worse to go to 'I want to design my baby for STEM', you are now going to the point of deciding a career path right at the time of being an embryo.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
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.
It doesn't work that way, what you're hoping for is still sci-fi.
That is why the title said Biology will be the next big computing platform, not that it already is. But CRISPR does appear to be the type of advance which changes what we think of as possible. It certainly is affecting the amount of R&D spending invested in this industry.
-- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
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
It's another to have designer genetics, carefully controlling height, eye color, hair color, whatever
So because you "feel" this is wrong, you want to impose your morality on others? Look, if you want to have a baby the old fashioned way, and just randomly mix your DNA with someone you met on OkCupid.com, that is your right. But those of us preferring a more scientific method should have equal reproductive rights.
Actually, no. We don't know enough about that kind of complex trait. Nor intelligence, either. Height we will soon sort of be able to tinker with if you don't mind, say, some Watusi genes.
The thing is, it's a lot easier to pick out genes that are both abnormal and injurious. And even then you need to wonder...there's evidence that some blood types protect against certain diseases, and other blood types protect against others. And you can't really have both. (AB exists, but there are probably good reasons why it's rare...and I'm talking causal reasons rather than arguments from statistics. There's got to be a reason that O is so common. There's been plenty of time for it to be selected away from.)
IOW, this is an area with a whole lot of massive ignorance surrounding a few pieces of knowledge. The benefits often come with a hidden price tag. E.g., shorter people tend to live longer than taller people for many well known reasons. But taller people have other advantages...up to a point.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
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.
But it won't be equal. It will be more equal than others.
History shows that classes/castes form if you give them the slightest excuse. Being born with a title, going to Oxvard or Yalebridge, plain old money.
If you give them an excuse to think they're better than everybody else they'll take it - and this one is all the more dangerous because arguably it's to some extent true. It's human nature.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
I'm saying it's a bad idea for society, practically speaking.
Gold rushes manifesting in how people deign the very genetics of their children. If we are lucky, it's a scam that doesn't do anything (which is likely now). If we were able to ingrain some sort of innate suitability for a profession, that first generation is going to be hyper-specialized for work that the previous generation estimated would be the 'hot job'.
That aside, think of how much worse the stage parents are going to be, and how useless someone would be if we could indulge such parents in getting exactly what they want.
All this before the ethical issue how much it would suck for the previous generation to have micromanaged your life choices down to the very fabric of your being (which is an overstatement of what we can achieve right now, but speaking to the ambition).
As it stands, random chance is better at keeping us prepared for a flexible future than we would be on the whole.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
Better educated parents provide their children with better nutrition, thus fostering brain development. So their children are intelligent and learn rapidly, causing the gap to open even wider.
So is your solution to outlaw good nutrition and force everyone to eat junk? After all, that would "level the field".
How is giving your kids good genes any worse than giving them good food?
I'm saying it's a bad idea for society, practically speaking.
That is your opinion, based on zero evidence.
As it stands, random chance is better at keeping us prepared for a flexible future than we would be on the whole.
Yet obese people run up our heathcare costs, and prisons are filled with people on the wrong side of the brain's bell curve. Randomness doesn't seem to be working very well.
Why yes! I said so in almost those exact words, didn't i?
Oh wait. I didn't.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
We have a diverse population, full of traits that are nothing but a waste now and we would want to eliminate them.
Obesity (to the extent it is truly genetic anyway) is a horrible detriment and everyone wants to have zero jiggle anywhere on their body. Some circumstance comes along and will result in a food gap of about 3 months, only the obese *might* survive (people saying obese people have a lot of problems that will kill them first are accurate, but they are the only ones with enough built in fat stores to even theoretically make it, even if the vast majority of them would die too)..
Having a diverse set of traits in the population to accommodate the unexpected is valuable, but that's not the way we think about things when we go to 'engineer' our population. We also don't want to plan for people who are needed, but not rare today (no one would design their kid to be a sanitation worker, but we need those).
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.