The Future
Page 63
30 competitive parenting has already done for the test preparation industry
Jose Ferreira, “A Short History of the Standardized Test Prep Industry,” Knewton Blog, February 17, 2010, http://www.knewton.com/blog/edtech/2010/02/17/a-short-history-of-the-standardized-test-prep-industry/; Julian Brookes, “Chris Hayes on the Twilight of the Elites and the End of Meritocracy,” Rolling Stone, July 11, 2012.
31 other parents may feel that they have to do the same
Armand Marie Leroi, “The Future of Neo-Eugenics,” EMBO Reports 7 (2006): 1184–87.
32 may trigger collateral genetic changes that are not yet fully understood
Mike Steere, “Designer Babies: Creating the Perfect Child,” CNN, October 30, 2008.
33 “We will have converted old-style evolution into neo-evolution”
Harvey Fineberg, “Are We Ready for Neo-Evolution?,” TED Talks, 2011.
34 the United States is decreasing its investment in biomedical research
Robert D. Atkinson et al., Leadership in Decline: Assessing U.S. International Competitiveness in Biomedical Research (Washington, DC: Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, 2012).
35 “It’s time for everyone to pull their heads out of the sand”
“Designer Baby Row Over US Clinic,” BBC, March 2, 2009.
36 “who deserves to be born?”
Andrew Pollack, “DNA Blueprint for Fetus Built Using Tests of Parents,” New York Times, June 6, 2012.
37 “They feel disempowered”
Steere, “Designer Babies.”
38 “would undermine humanity and create a techno-eugenic rat race”
Ibid.
39 will soon exceed the sequencing capacity of the entire United States
Japan External Trade Organization, “BGI, China’s Leading Genome Research Institute, Has Established a Japanese Arm in Kobe,” February 7, 2012; Fiona Tam, “Scientists Seek to Unravel the Mystery of IQ,” translated by Steve Hsu, South China Morning Post, December 4, 2010.
40 occupations that make the best use of their capabilities
“The Dragon’s DNA,” Economist, June 17, 2010; Emily Chang, “In China, DNA Tests on Kids ID Genetic Gifts, Careers,” CNN, August 5, 2009, http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/08/03/china.dna.children.ability/.
41 over $100 billion on life sciences research over just the last three years
Lone Frank, “High-Quality DNA,” Newsweek, April 24, 2011.
42 “science discovery and innovation within the next decade”
Ibid.
43 industry will be one of the pillars
“China Establishes National Gene Bank in Shenzhe,” Xinhua News Agency, June 18, 2011.
44 eventually sequence the genomes of almost every child in China
David Cyranoski, “Chinese Bioscience: The Sequence Factory,” Nature, March 3, 2010.
45 first patent on a gene
Harriet A. Washington, Deadly Monopolies: The Shocking Corporate Takeover of Life Itself—and the Consequences for Your Healthy and Our Medical Future (New York: Doubleday, 2011), p. 181.
46 more than 40,000 gene patents have been issued, covering 2,000 human genes
Sharon Begley, “In Surprise Ruling, Court Declares Two Gene Patents Invalid,” Daily Beast, March 29, 2010.
47 used for commercial purposes without their permission
Washington, Deadly Monopolies, chs. 1 and 7.
48 gene therapy drug, known as Glybera
Ben Hirschler, “Europe Approves High-Price Gene Therapy,” Reuters, November 2, 2012.
49 treatment of a rare genetic disorder
Andrew Pollack, “European Agency Backs Approval of a Gene Therapy,” New York Times, July 20, 2012.
50 approved a drug known as Crizotinib
Alice T. Shaw, “The Crizotinib Story: From Target to FDA Approval and Beyond,” InforMEDical, 2012, http://www.informedicalcme.com/lucatoday/crizotinib-story-from-target-to-fda-approval.
51 “We now believe that Monsanto”
“Monsanto Strong-Arms Seed Industry,” Associated Press, January 4, 2011.
52 “Could you patent the sun?”
“ ‘Deadly Monopolies’? Patenting the Human Body,” Fresh Air, NPR, October 24, 2011, http://www.npr.org/2011/10/24/141429392/deadly-monopolies-patenting-the-human-body. The groundbreaking work of Albert Sabin—whose vaccine became the most widely used—cannot be overlooked as well.
53 research into the genome was still in its early stages
Norman Borlaug, biography, http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1970/borlaug-bio.html.
54 “God help us if that were to happen”
Vandana Shiva, “The Indian Seed Act and Patent Act: Sowing the Seeds of Dictatorship,” ZNet, February 14, 2005, http://www.grain.org/article/entries/2166-india-seed-act-patent-act-sowing-the-seeds-of-dictatorship.
55 “always stood for free exchange of germplasm”
Ibid.
56 courts continue to uphold the patentability of genes
Reuters, “Court Reaffirms Right of Myriad Genetics to Patent Genes,” New York Times, August 16, 2012.
57 we gain the ability to understand and manipulate the reality
Michael S. Gazzaniga, Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique (New York: HarperCollins, 2008), p. 199.
58 four letters: A, T, C, and G
“The four bases—ATCG,” Scitable, Nature Education, 2012, http://www.nature.com/scitable/content/the-four-bases-atcg-6491969.
59 “device the size of your thumb could store”
Robert Lee Hotz, “Harvard Researchers Turn Book into DNA Code,” Wall Street Journal, August 16, 2012.
60 discovered by James Watson, Francis Crick, and Rosalind Franklin
Lynne Osman Elkin, “Rosalind Franklin and the Double Helix,” Physics Today 56, no. 3 (March 2003): 42–48.
61 exactly fifty years later, the human genome was sequenced
US Department of Energy, Office of Science, “History of the Human Genome Project,” June 4, 2012, http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/project/hgp.shtml.
62 they are beginning to sequence RNA
Genetics Home Reference, “RNA,” http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/glossary=rna.
63 system to convey the information that is translated into proteins
“RNAi,” Nova scienceNOW, PBS, July 26, 2005, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/rnai.html.
64 cells that make up all forms of life
Genetics Home Reference, “Protein,” http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/glossary=protein.
65 being analyzed in the Human Proteome Project
Human Proteome Organisation, “Human Proteome Project (HPP),” 2010, http://www.hupo.org/research/hpp/.
66 patterns that affect their function and role
ThermoScientific, “Overview of Post-Translational Modifications (PTMs),” http://www.piercenet.com.
67 ways that extend their range of functions and control their behavior
Ibid.
68 The Human Epigenome Project has made major advances
G. G. Sanghani et al., “Human Epigenome Project: The Future of Cancer Therapy,” Inventi Impact: Pharm Biotech & Microbio 2012, http://www.inventi.in/Article/pbm/94/12.aspx.
69 epigenetic breakthroughs are already helping cancer patients
“Epigenetics Emerges Powerfully as a Clinical Tool,” Medical Xpress, September 12, 2012, http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-epigenetics-emerges-powerfully-clinical-tool.html.
70 transform and commandeer them
Denise Caruso, “Synthetic Biology: An Overview
and Recommendations for Anticipating and Addressing Emerging Risks,” Science Progress, November 12, 2008, http://scienceprogress.org/2008/11/synthetic-biology/.
71 custom chemicals that have value in the marketplace
Caruso, “Synthetic Biology.”
72 less effective insulin produced from pigs and other animals
Lawrence K. Altman, “A New Insulin Given Approval for Use in U.S.,” New York Times, October 30, 1982.
73 significant improvements in artificial skin
Charles Q. Choi, “Spider Silk May Provide the Key to Artificial Skin,” MSNBC, August 9, 2011; Katharine Sanderson, “Artificial Skins Detect the Gentlest Touch,” Nature, September 12, 2010.
74 synthetic human blood
Fiona Macrae, “Synthetic Blood Created by British Scientists Could Be Used in Transfusions in Just Two Years,” Daily Mail, October 28, 2011.
75 diverse as fuel for vehicles
Michael Totty, “A Faster Path to Biofuels,” Wall Street Journal, October 16, 2011.
76 protein for human consumption
Jeffrey Bartholet, “When Will Scientists Grow Meat in a Petri Dish?,” Scientific American, May 17, 2011; H. L. Tuomisto, “Food Security and Protein Supply—Cultured Meat a Solution?,” 2010, http://oxford.academia.edu/HannaTuomisto/Papers/740015/Food_Security_and_Protein_Supply_-Cultured_meat_a_solution.
77 “a juggernaut already beyond the reach of governance”
Caruso, “Synthetic Biology.”
78 “not only for one, but also for all humanity”
Jun Wang, Science, “Personal Genomes: For One and for All,” Science, February 11, 2011.
79 junk DNA actually contains millions of “on-off switches”
Gina Kolata, “Bits of Mystery DNA, Far from ‘Junk,’ Play Crucial Role,” New York Times, September 6, 2012.
80 “very complicated three-dimensional structure”
Brandon Keim, “New DNA Encyclopedia Attempts to Map Function of Entire Human Genome,” Wired, September 5, 2012.
81 first human genome ten years ago was approximately $3 billion
John Markoff, “Cost of Gene Sequencing Falls, Raising Hopes for Medical Advances,” New York Times, March 8, 2012.
82 to be available at a cost of only $1,000 per person
Ibid.
83 At that price, according to experts
Ibid.
84 “all important topics for future discussions”
Ibid.
85 gene-sequencing machine for less than $900
Oxford Nanopore Technologies, “Oxford Nanopore Introduces DNA ‘Strand Sequencing’ on the High-Throughput GridION Platform and Presents MinION, a Sequencer the Size of a USB Memory Stick,” February 17, 2012, http://www.nanoporetech.com/news/press-releases/view/39/.
86 has long been measured by Moore’s Law
K. A. Wetterstrand, “DNA Sequencing Costs: Data from the NHGRI Large-Scale Genome Sequencing Program,” www.genome.gov/sequencingcosts.
87 cost for sequencing began to drop at a significantly faster pace
Ibid.
88 increases in the length of DNA strands that can be quickly analyzed
Jeffrey Fisher and Mostafa Ronaghi, “The Current Status and Future Outlook for Genomic Technologies,” National Academy of Engineering, Winter 2010; Neil Bowdler, “1000 Genomes project maps 95% of all gene variations,” BBC, October 27, 2011.
89 breakneck speed for the foreseeable future
Ibid.
90 producing synthetic genomes
John Carroll, “Life Technologies Budgets $100M for Synthetic Biology Deals,” Fierce Biotech, June 3, 2010, http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/life-technologies-budgets-100m-synthetic-biology-deals/2010-06-03.
91 introduction by Hammurabi of the first written set of laws
Paul Halsall, “Code of Hammurabi, c. 1780 BCE,” Internet Ancient History Sourcebook, March 1998, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/hamcode.asp.
92 “a new wave of organisms, an artificially provoked neo-life”
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man (New York: HarperCollins, 2008), p. 250.
93 who had already made history by sequencing his own genome
Emily Singer, “Craig Venter’s Genome,” Technology Review, September 4, 2007, http://www.technologyreview.com/news/408606/craig-venters-genome/.
94 first live bacteria made completely from synthetic DNA
Joe Palca, “Scientists Reach Milestone on Way to Artificial Life,” NPR, May 20, 2010.
95 Venter had merely copied the blueprint of a known bacterium
Clive Cookson, “Synthetic Life,” Financial Times, July 27, 2012.
96 used the empty shell of another as the container for his new life-form
Clive Cookson, “Scientists Create a Living Organism,” Financial Times, May 20, 2010.
97 others marked it as an important turning point
Stuart Fox, “J. Craig Venter Institute Creates First Synthetic Life Form,” Christian Science Monitor, May 21, 2010.
98 free-living microbe known as Mycoplasma genitalium
John Markoff, “In First, Software Emulates Lifespan of Entire Organism,” New York Times, July 21, 2012.
99 minimum amount of DNA information necessary for self-replication
Cookson, “Synthetic Life.”
100 “if there had been one,” Venter said
Ibid.
101 “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves”
William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, 1.2.140–41.
102 E. O. Wilson, has been bitterly attacked
Jennifer Schuessler, “Lessons from Ants to Grasp Humanity,” New York Times, April 8, 2012; Richard Dawkins, “The Descent of Edward Wilson,” Prospect, May 24, 2012.
103 Wilson, who was but is no longer a Christian
Donna Winchester, “E.O. Wilson on Ants and God and Us,” Tampa Bay Times, November 14, 2008.
104 “decade by decade, century by century”
“The ‘Evidence for Belief’: An Interview with Francis Collins,” Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, April 17, 2008, http://pewresearch.org/pubs/805/the-evidence-for-belief-an-interview-with-francis-collins.
105 “then we can decide what metabolism we want it to have”
Cookson, “Synthetic Life.”
106 breakthroughs in health care
Warren C. Ruder, Ting Lu, and James J. Collins, “Synthetic Biology Moving into the Clinic,” Science, September 2, 2011.
107 energy production
Cookson, “Synthetic Life.”
108 environmental remediation
Caruso, “Synthetic Biology.”
109 and many other fields
Stephen C. Aldrich, James Newcomb, and Robert Carlson, Genome Synthesis and Design Futures: Implications for the U.S. Economy (Cambridge, MA: Bio Economic Research Associates, 2007).
110 destroy or weaken antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Ruder, Lu, and Collins, “Synthetic Biology Moving into the Clinic.”
111 killing other targeted bacteria until the infection subsides
Ibid.
112 vaccine development is also generating great hope
Cookson, “Synthetic Life.”
113 bird flu (H5N1) of 2007 and the so-called swine flu (H1N1) of 2009
Ibid.
114 ability to pass from one human to another through airborne transmission
“Bird Flu Pandemic in Humans Could Happen Any Time,” Reuters, June 21, 2012.
115 a new mutant of the virus begins spreading
Huib de Vriend, “Vaccines: The First Commercial Application of Synthetic Biology?,” Rathenau Instituut, July 2011.
116 using the tools of synthetic biology
Ibid.
117 decrease the cost and t
ime of manufacturing of vaccines
Vicki Glaser, “Quest for Fully Disposable Process Stream,” Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News 29, no. 5, March 1, 2009.
118 Some experts have also predicted
Aldrich, Newcomb, and Carlson, Genome Synthesis and Design Futures.
119 utilizing a “widely dispersed” strategy
Cookson, “Synthetic Life.”
120 “would not appear to him as indecent and unnatural”
J. B. S. Haldane, “Daedalus of Science and the Future,” February 4, 1923, http://www.psy.vanderbilt.edu/courses/hon182/Daedalus_or_SCIENCE_AND_THE_FUTURE_JBS_Haldane.pdf.
121 “We intuit and we feel”
Leon Kass, Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity (San Francisco: Encounter Books, 2004), p. 150.
122 describes a feeling that itself lacks precision
Alexis Madrigal, “I’m Being Followed: How Google—and 104 Other Companies—Are Tracking Me on the Web,” Atlantic, February 29, 2012.
123 a method for producing spider silk
Rutherford, “Synthetic Biology and the Rise of the ‘Spider-Goats.’ ”
124 five times stronger than steel by weight
Other scientists have mimicked the molecular design of spider silk by synthesizing their own from a commercially available substance (polyurethane elastomer) treated with clay platelets only one nanometer (a billionth of a meter) thick and only 25 nanometers across, then carefully processing the mixture to create synthetic spider silk. This work has been funded by the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology because the military applications are considered of such high importance. Rutherford, “Synthetic biology and the rise of the ‘spider-goats’ ”; “Nexia and US Army Spin the World’s First Man-Made Spider Silk Performance Fibers,” Eureka Alert, January 17, 2002, http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-01/nbi-nau011102.php.
125 because of their antisocial, cannibalistic nature
Rutherford, “Synthetic Biology and the Rise of the ‘Spider-Goats.’ ”
126 became a threat to native trees and plants
Richard J. Blaustein, “Kudzu’s Invasion into Southern United States Life and Culture,” 2001, www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/ja_blaustein001.pdf.
127 chain reaction in the ocean and create an unimaginable ecological Armageddon