Regenesis (47 page)

diesel (biodiesel),
6–7
,
66
,
93
,
97–106
,
201
,
239

Diesel, Rudolf,
98

“Diffusion of Synthetic Biology: A Challenge to Biosafety” (Schmidt),
232

DIYbio,
232–237

Dino,
95

DNA,
29
.
See also
oligonucleotides
;
polynucleotides

as ancient text,
38

encoding digital information using,
90
,
177
,
195–198

storage of Wikipedia all-languages version as,
197

first appearance of,
38

noncoding (“junk”),
51
,
57

origami,
80

plasmid,
44

replication of,
30

commercial synthesis of,
34

as ultimate backup medium,
34

Dolly (sheep),
134

as “raised from the dead”
9
,
134

Donnell, David,
180
,
230–231

Douglas, Shawn,
80

Dresser, Betsey,
141

Drexler, K. Eric,
54

Drmanac, Rade (Complete Genomics),
168

DuPont,
3

E. coli (Escherichia coli)
,
3

changing codons of,
125

as digital information storage devices,
195–196

discovery of,
43

genetic engineering of,
44

to destroy cancer cells,
115–116

to make diesel fuel,
103

to make ethanol,
103

to suppress appetite,
179–180
,
199–200

genome of,
72
,
78

inv
+
E. coli
,
116

K-12 strain of,
6
,
46

as rationally designed,
6

as molecular factories,
46

protein-coding genes of,
127

replication rate of,
43
,
72

sense-perception ability of,
43

sensor-equipped,
116

synthesis of hemoglobin (“bactoblood”) by,
6
,
181
,
192

synthesis of PDO by,
3

See also
biofuels

EcoRI,
44

E. cryptor
,
195–196

E. pluri
,
66–67

electricity,
4
,
192–193
,
240

produced from sewage,
4–5

Elowitz, Michael,
187–188

Emory University,
7

Endy, Drew,
160
,
171
,
186–190
,
237
,
255

Engines of Creation
(Drexler),
54

Energy from Heaven and Earth
(Teller),
96

enhancing the human body,
8–9
,
227

Environmental Protection Agency,
3

Escherich, Theodor,
43

“Essay on the Principle of Population” (Malthus),
221

ethanol,
2

eugenics,
8
,
86–89
,
251

errors of,
59

evolution,
95
,
110–111
,
119
,
125
,
155
,
161–163
,
181
,
193
,
210
,
230
,
232

human control of,
13
,
74

increasing the rate of,
71–73
,
88

laboratory,
31

maximizing,
89

progress in,
61

exponential technologies,
164
,
168
,
209n
,
242–243
,
250–252

extinction,
88
,
133

successful reversal of,
9–11
,
133–136

arguments against extinction reversal,
142–143

Fernández-Árias, Alberto,
133–136

Feynman, Richard,
177

Fleming, Diane O.,
231

flies (midges),
72
,
130
,
250–251

Flynn effect,
88–89

Folch, Jose,
10
,
133–136

food-for-fuel problem,
94

Ford, Henry,
98

Forster, Anthony,
52
,
66

Fukuyama, Francis,
227–228

fundamental engineering principles,
161

biological equivalents of,
161–162

future, prescriptions for,
243–253

alternative scenarios,
243–249

natural versus exotic,
243–244

staying at home versus jetsetting,
242

personal versus generic,
245

priceless versus worthless,
246

rich versus poor,
246

privacy versus publicity,
246–248

becoming a new species,
248–250

Galton, Francis (Galtonian eugenics),
87–89

Gao, Xiaolian,
174

“garage biology”
232
,
233

first example of,
233

Gaston Day School,
194

Gates, Bill,
100
,
172

Gen9 (earlier, CodonDevices),
170–171

Genencor International,
3

genetic code,
61

changing,
8–9
,
120–128

decoding of,
64

genetic diseases,
204–205

genetic engineering,
11

genome,

synthetic,
74–76

genome synthesis as a business,
176–177

reasons for synthesizing,
75–76

genome sequencing,
73

as a business,
170–174

commercial firms,
215

as enabling the mining of biological talents from other species,
73–74
,
83

history of,
165–170

genomic engineering,
9
,
11
,
59
,
119

as a business,
162–164

as enabling increased diversity,
59–66

standardization of,
181–182

Genspace,
234

Gentry, Eri,
233–234
,
257

Geobacter metallireducens
,
5

Giese, Jeanna,
109–110

recovery of,
131–132

Gilbert, Wally,
118
,
165
,
255

Gladyshev, Eugene,
130

Glasby, Geoffrey,
97

glycolysis,
42

G-Oil,
93

Gold, Thomas,
97

Goodsell, David,
44

Google,
89
,
246
,
255

Goto, Kazufumi,
145

“great oxygenation event”
105

green chemistry,
3

green fluorescent protein (GFP),
187

Green Fuel Technologies Corporation,
93

Gustafsson, Claes,
196

H+.
See
transhumanism

Hadean era,
16

Haeckel, Ernst,
12

handedness of molecules (chirality),
20

defined,
22

reasons to care about,
21–22

See also
mirror molecules

Hapgood, Fred,
193

hepatitis C virus, synthetic,
75

Here Is a Human Being
(Angrist),
214

Hero of Alexandria,
182

Hippocrates,
204

History of the Peloponnesian War
(Thucydides),
111

Holocene epoch,
203

Hood, Lee,
165
,
174

Hooke, Robert,
39

houses grown from seeds,
7–8

human genome, modifying,
85
,
115
,
120–128

for multivirus resistance,
8–9
,
119–121

for radiation resistance,
129–131

objections to,
85–86

Human Genome Project,
73
,
205

as moon landing of molecular biology,
73
,
207

sequenced a “blended person”
207

human immune system,
111–114

limitations of,
111

See also
mammalian immune system

HuMAb-Mouse,
118

humanized mice,
118

Hunt, Debra Long,
231

hyperthymesia,
228–229

“Idempotent Vector Design for Standard Assembly of Biobricks” (Knight),
185

iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machines),
180–181

attempts to make genetic engineering “easy,”
230–231

dangers arising from,
230–232

history of,
189–192

2010 iGEM Jamboree,
192–196
,
198–201

Chinese University of Hong Kong presentation at,
195–196
,
197
,
200

Harvard iGarden project at,
200

Team Citadel presentation at,
199–200

immortal human components,
217–223

cloning as a possible route to,
220–221

extremes of longevity,
218–219

HeLa cells,
220

Lacks, Henrietta,
220

immune response,
112–114

generation of diversity problem (GOD problem),
113

immune diversity,
113

immune specificity,
113

industrial revolutions,
151–158

first industrial revolution (domestication of time),
152–154

unwelcome consequences of,
154

second industrial revolution (agriculture),
154–157

advantages of,
155

unwelcome consequences of,
155–156

further consequences of,
156–157

parallels to synthetic biology,
157

third industrial revolution (The Industrial Revolution proper),
182

made possible by steam power and standardization,
182–184

fourth industrial revolution (electro-magnetic),
192–193

fifth industrial revolution (quantum),
205–206

unwelcome consequences of,
207

sixth industrial revolution (information-genomics),
209–210

unwelcome consequences of,
211

information entropy,
56

inkjet printers,
33–34

three-dimensional,
33

inorganic/organic,
19–20

hybrid systems,
35

input/output,
33

Iritani, Akira,
145

interchangeable parts,
184