Nov 29, 2012
They are the stuff of horror and science fiction stories. They are
the fodder for much political debate and public fear. Yet they may
be our future and our salvation. What are they? They are
artificially created biological organisms. Authors George Church
and Ed Regis, in their new book, Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology
Will Recreate Nature and Ourselves, tell us they are coming, and
they tell us not to be afraid. Wary, perhaps, but not afraid.
Church is a molecular geneticist, who created many of the tools we
use for genetic sequencing. He is also the founder of the Personal
Genome Project, which looks to sequence the genomes of 100,000
volunteers and place the data in the public domain to facilitate
research into the interplay of genetics and environment in
determining how we become who we are. This Sunday, he will talk to
us about what we may expect from this future in which we have this
kind of information and this kind of power.