Technological advances in molecular biology have now developed to the point where it is possible to store large amounts of DNA sequence in databases and resynthesize this DNA at distant locations or later dates. In the near future, significant and growing proportions of organismal DNA sequence will be captured digitally, and it will become commonplace to reconstruct genomes by chemical synthesis.
Image courtesy of Michael Gillings
Image courtesy of interviewee
I see a world where we are able to build machines that use this vast database of information to preform tasks. I kind of see them as living organisms with a programable “brain” that is able to take sequenced genomes or parts of genomes to generate amino acids and proteins to perform a task. I like the idea of using these machines to potential reverse climate change, or degrade waste products at an accelerated waste for example. Seeing Michael explore this idea a little bit is an exciting prospect to me and I hope through my studies I can find some like minded people that would like to hopefully bring this vision to life. With the technology advancing as fast as it is, I see this vision being obtainable in my lifetime.