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INTELLIGENT DESIGN. "The core argument of Stephen Meyer’s book, Signature in a Cell, written in advocacy of intelligent design, is this: DNA is a code and a computer instruction is a code. Since computer code requires an intelligent designer, and DNA is a code, it follows that DNA is a product of, or is controlled by, an intelligent designer." https://lnkd.in/dRV7_cp View in LinkedIn

DOMINION OVER NATURE. "The fusion of the digital world of the machine and that of biology would open up remarkable possibilities for creating novel species and guiding future evolution." https://books.google.es/books/about/Life_at_the_Speed_of_Light.html?id=GWDD9yMb33cC&hl=en View in LinkedIn

LIFE AS I.T. "We defined the terms “synthetic life” and “synthetic cells” in a reasonably specific way, as cells completely controlled only by a synthetic DNA chromosome. The synthetic genome was the software of life, which specified every protein robot in the cell, and therefore every one of the cell’s functions. From the public response to our announcement and scientific publication, however, it was clear that some found it hard to accept the concept of life as an information system." https://books.google.es/books/about/Life_at_the_Speed_of_Light.html?id=GWDD9yMb33cC&hl=en View in LinkedIn

CONTROLLING EVOLUTION: "DNA is the software of the cell, and when we change the software we change the species." (Craig Venter). This is species change without the help of aeons of evolution, humans directly controlling evolution in a test-tube. https://lnkd.in/eJFrT_P View in LinkedIn

GAME CHANGER. "In 2010, biologist Craig Venter, already known as a key figure behind the mapping of the human genome, announced his creation of a microbe that earned the name Synthia: “the first self-replicating species on the planet whose parent was a computer.” https://lnkd.in/eFMx6_S View in LinkedIn

THE CREATION OF LIFE FROM INFORMATION. "Venter had been the first person in history to make a functioning creature from information. Looking at the strings of letters representing the DNA sequence for a virus called phi X174, which infects bacteria, he thought to himself, "I can assemble real DNA based on that computer information." And so he did, creating a virus based on the phi X174 genomic code." https://lnkd.in/dyGvsfW View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues and concludes from last weekend on the theme of viral quasispecies and mutant swarms. An astonishingly high mutation rate, that characterizes viral storms, comes at a cost to the virus, and generally this has been overlooked. This low fidelity reproduction requires the development of tolerance in the swarm, both of which have clinical ramifications. View in LinkedIn

THE END OF DARWINISM. "Gerald Joyce (Scripps Research Institute) frets that as the boundaries blur, biologists are now going to be directing evolution and that we are witnessing "the end of Darwinism." http://www.cfr.org/united-states/biologys-brave-new-world/p31894 View in LinkedIn

DNA AS SOFTWARE. "To do with biology what you would do if you were designing a piece of software." The immense change in our collective view of the natural world, and in such a brief time, is encapsulated in this remarkable sentence. http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2013/03/26/making-living-matter-programmable/ View in LinkedIn

SIMPLIFYING PROGRAMING OF E. COLI. "Currently, each time we need a cell that will perform a certain new function we have to recreate it from scratch which is a long and laborious process. Most people think all we have to do to modify behaviour is to modify a cell’s DNA but it’s not as simple as that — we usually find we get the wrong behaviour and then we are back to square one." (2011). http://www.tgdaily.com/trendwatch-features/59511-re-programmable-cells-to-create-new-life-forms View in LinkedIn