EP 984 Decoding the Language of DNA to Fight Disease and Climate Impacts

There was a time when scientists could only read our biology, then came an advance with their ability to edit it and now it’s a moment to write a whole new chapter in evolution through synthetic biology, made possible in large part, you guessed it by artificial intelligence.  Breakthroughs in AI, gene editing and synthetic biology are coming together to make this an unprecedented time in the history of life. Evolution, and its randomness, have left us with bodies that could benefit from our ability to make adjustments–like repairing faulty genes and having the ability to intervene in the complex systems that drive disease.  Sounds futuristic?  And a bit scary?  The technology is neutral.  It’s how it is applied.  In benevolent hands, and with regulatory safeguards, it may make possible advances unimaginable just decades ago.  Our guest, Dr. Adrian Woolfson is the author of “On the Future of the Species: Authoring Life by Means of Artificial Biological Intelligence.”  This is probably your first time diving into this fascinating topic.  Advances suggest it will become part of the scientific lexicon before you know it.

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