What if someone could gather your DNA and use it to have your baby without you knowing? And while we're talking about babies, why not synthesise them entirely? And what happens when robotics and biology start to mix? These are questions that seem far out to most people, but they're part of everyday considerations for Andrew Hessel. Organ printers, synthetic babies and the coding of new organisms are a case of when, not if, as far as he's concerned.
Want to have Brad Pitt's baby without his consent?
Simon Dingle, contributor, ITWeb
Hessel is faculty and co-chair of the biotechnology and bioinformatics track at the Singularity University, located at NASA's Ames campus, in California. He is also co-founder of the Pink Army Cooperative that aims to “fundamentally change the way medicines are developed”. One way in which this is being done is by applying the open source software development model to the formulation of therapies for breast cancer and other maladies.
I saw Hessel speaking at the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship's 'Good Morning' event this month, and had the pleasure of dining with him at a dinner for speakers at the event later that day.
Infinity and beyond
Biotech is a new frontier and Hessel is one of its pioneers.
In Hessel's world, progress happens in giant leaps. I recalled visiting IBM's Watson Research Centre in New York during 2010, where I met a team of people working on a DNA transistor that would be able to cheaply decode an individual genome in just a few hours - a process that used to take weeks and cost tens of thousands of dollars. In less than a year since then, giant strides have been made in terms of DNA sequencing and related technologies. Targets that were set for 2015 by some researchers will be met in 2012.
The implications of this are massive. With individual genome sequencing, medicine will enter a new paradigm, where treatments are developed specific to individuals with certain genetic traits. Doctors will also be able to efficiently diagnose patients based on what their genetic cocktail makes them susceptible to.
But that is just the beginning.
In the genes
“The bio-paparazzi are coming,” said Hessel, in his talk in Stockholm, suggesting that celebrities could be the targets of DNA collectors in the near future, who could gather samples from glasses, hotel rooms and elsewhere. Want to have Brad Pitt's baby without his consent? In Hessel's world, this would be trivial.
Synthetic humans are also around the corner, he says, citing examples of how scientists have already managed to synthesise blood and human tissue in laboratories. He says we will soon be able to buy synthetic replacement organs instead of relying on donors. If we can use 3D printers to create organs in the future, then synthesising entire human beings will be possible too - whether we morally decide to go there or not.
In the official Steve Jobs biography, author Walter Isaacson relates the story of Jobs' son Reed studying genetics - something his father was very proud of.
“His enthusiasm for it is exactly how I felt about computers when I was his age,” Jobs told Isaacson.
“I think the biggest innovations of the 21st century will be the intersection of biology and technology. A new era is beginning, just like the digital one was when I was his age.”
Jobs often referred to the intersection of technology and the liberal arts. Apple, he said, stood at that crossing. Next will be biology, where Hessel and his kin take over.
In a 2010 interview with Sander Olson, Hessel said: “The reading and writing of genetics code is an exponential technology in the same way for biogenetics that Moore's Law is for computing.”
He added: “We are hitting the knee of the curve of that technology.”
Hessel says DNA is like a programming language and scientists are mastering it. Soon they'll be able to write it and programme their own biological creations, much like computer programmers can manipulate languages to create just about anything they want.
The first company to take biotech innovation to the masses, he says, will rival the world's biggest technology companies in terms of fortunes. So if you're looking for the next big thing, then you should be watching the work of Andrew Hessel and his peers very closely.