According to the video above, just released on YouTube a few days ago, Cornell University engineers have created an artificial material that has three key traits of life — metabolism, self-assembly and organization. The engineers were able to pull off such a feat by using DNA in order to make machines from biomaterials that would have characteristics of alive things.
I will spare the technical details, mostly because they are very well described in the video.
I will just try to understand where this may lead to.
So, the materials have metabolism and they can re-assemble themselves, but they don't have consciousness (or at least not the type of consciousness we're used to). From this perspective, they are pretty much like the wood used to make furniture, only this type of "wood" would be alive and continue to grow / re-assemble itself.
One possible application may be in medicine, and I'm thinking mostly prosthetics. If such a material can exist and attach itself to another source of nutrients (a thing that is not yet possible, according to the scientific paper) then we may see a revolution in how we can re-generate our own "flesh and blood".
Another application may be in terraforming other planets. If such a material could synthesize itself from light and keep "moving" in a certain direction, by itself, it will basically allow massive terraforming of any planet that can support that specific DNA strand. This is mind blowing, in my opinion.
As always, there is always the ethical part of it and I expect it to be quite difficult.
How do we determine now if "something" is "alive"? If it has metabolism? If it can reproduce itself? If it can show intent?
Life just became a little more difficult to understand, IMHO.
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Indeed mind blowing, but also perhaps one of the most dangerous advances in technology I have considered. In my short story 'Fresh Meat' published on Steem exclusively, I detail just one mechanism that can go awry resulting in existential tragedy.
Absent robust apoptosis inducing controls, self-replicating mechanisms are absolutely terrifying. I see no indication these researchers have considered security at all. Consider how technology concatenates and that over a decade ago Australian researchers were sanctioned for inserting human fetal brain cells into mice, and just recently Chinese researchers proudly proclaimed they were including human traits in Rhesus monkeys, and the myriad potential ways to concatenate developing tech.
CRISPR is in the wild. 3D printing, aquaponics, metalstorm, on and on, are all in the wild, and nothing prohibits individuals from concatenating these diverse advances to produce new chimerical mechanisms, without any regard for security. There will be abuses, and there is no means of regulation that can be enforced to prevent it. It is therefore critical that we not rely on centralized bureaucracies to secure us from novel threats proceeding from decentralized and non-specific sources. It is impossible to even know who has these capabilities now, much less regulate what they do somehow, and if we personally aren't actively securing ourselves from emerging threats, nothing but glacial bureaucracies stand between us and annihilation from a plethora of ineffable sources.
posted regarding the market for CBRN industry, and these particular iterations of threats aren't even conceived of by the cutting edge of the centralized war profiteering industry. Nothing better indicates that centralization is obsolete, and that we must ourselves seize the means of production individually in order to effect our personal security. A reformation of society is ongoing, and early adopters may be able to coordinate their efforts to safely negotiate the blank places on our map of emerging technology and social changes that will remodel civilization as decentralized technology rewrites how power and wealth are distributed.@v4vapid recently
We either take the bull by the horns, or we take the horns of the bull another way, but the bull of change is charging, and we are in the way.
Thanks!
Anything humans can do or invent, they will do or invent. That's why we will 100% extinguish ourselves with technology going wrong in the future unless the sun burns us or WW3 happens.
I disagree, and actually name the mechanism that will operate to prevent that extinction: decentralization. Just as threats will materialize from that source, so will security mechanisms that are more than competent to effectively prevent our demise. It is why I advocate continually for adoption of those decentralized means of production that make the best sense for each of us in our individual circumstances, and myself have done so.
Even if it's only Steem, all reading my words have taken a first step towards decentralization of power and wealth. Many more equally powerful mechanisms await our adoption. Time is of the essence, and those tardy out the gate will pay prices I cannot imagine.
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Interesting to say the least. I believe even if we make DNA and try to replicate consciousness we would never accomplish a true alive creation because our consciousness is far beyond reachable. It is not something that is created, it is inserted, unique and out of this world. I believe distinguishing between real DNA and engineered DNA is in consciousness. Amazing article, I don't want to go into if it is humane to do this sort of things or not but it was interesting to read about it, to say the least. Have a great day.
I'm not holding my breath on this. Many promises were made in the past and we haven't fully obtain yet. The stem cell being able to regenerate and cure for cancer.
On the flip side its definitely going to be an ethical issue once this does happen. Imagine creating species that were once extinct or growing Super humans for war....
In my opinion scientists could have created living material but unfortunately they would never be able to match God's creation.
That is another aspect of the uniqueness of science. It is growing as day goes by