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"In the future, vaccines can be transmitted to all households via e-mail. People can use the already popular 3D printers to print out the DNA and complete self-immunization." The first "bad boy" Wendt in the scientific community who created artificial life forms. In recent days, the words of astonishment have again been issued. The sci-fi madness he spoke at the Health Conference of Wired magazine held in New York City recently was once again embarrassing. He was again criticized by the academic community. However, in theory, this fantasy can be realized.
Science fantasy
Email transmission digital vaccine
In the future he contemplates, an ordinary person who wants to get a vaccine needle does not need to go to the hospital. He only needs to receive e-mails, download the DNA, and print out the vaccine through a domestic 3D printer, even if he can be immunized.
"That is DNA's 3D printer, a 3D printer for life," said Venter.
This is not the first time he has said this idea. Earlier in an interview, he also mentioned that DNA can be downloaded via computer.
He said that at that time, the U.S. government or WHO could cooperate with the Venter Research Center or his company "synthetic genes", or send vaccines to various households or transfer them to 3D vaccine printers.
This idea sounds like a fantasy, but it is not unfounded. In fact, Venter, known as the "biotechnology industry's Jobs," has been leading a research team to start. They are studying how to convert DNA into a digital organism code that can be downloaded and converted into DNA for use in various ways. They have now built a digital-to-bioconverter that can turn biometric information into digital information. This is a bit like turning a sound into a digital message and converting it into a sound through a telephone line.
Theoretical basis
"Life is just a set of codes"
In 1943, the physicist Schrödinger, who had changed the "life and death" of the cat into a famous theory, wrote "What is life?" "It is proposed that life is just a set of codes, and the genes behind the codes are presented in the form of "non-periodic crystals." That is, in order to pass genetic information on to the next generation, genes must exist in some stable crystal form. Later, Schrödinger's ideas inspired James Watson and Francis Crick. In less than a decade, the two men discovered the double helix structure of human DNA. This was the greatest discovery in the life science community in the last century.
Venter's "Fantasy" was also inspired by Schrödinger. "He (Schrodinger) believes that the life code is stable and relatively simple. This is very important. Most people today do not realize that everything that comes out of a computer comes from 0 and 1, this is a very simple code." Venter said.
In his vision, when people can truly understand these life codes, problems such as new energy, medicine, food and nutrition, and clean water sources in the 21st century can be solved.
Technical Support
Bioprinting can quickly produce vaccines
When the H1N1 flu virus broke out in 2009, it was common for governments to spend six months to produce enough vaccines, and Venter said that when this happens again, the vaccine can reach all households within a week.
In Venter's vision, if the vaccine can be digitized, it can be quickly sent via e-mail. "It can be sent to all corners of the globe. Researchers can also quickly research and develop vaccines faster."
Now 3D printing technology is not a problem. With the rapid development of this new technology, scientists have printed out materials of various materials. Recently, even the U.S. military announced that it will introduce 3D printing technology in the military and set up a special laboratory. In the future, when the soldiers on the battlefield lack the weapon parts, the rear headquarters can transmit the original artwork to the front by e-mail. The latter directly prints the plastic or metal parts on the spot through the 3D printer.
"New Scientist" writes that in terms of biotechnology, as long as the recipient has a "printer" that can chemically link nucleotides, sugars and amino acids, the micro-molecules can also be transmitted by e-mail. And print. The article mentioned that, of course, such printers require a large number of "toner cartridges" made up of biological "gadgets", but their technology is not as complicated as modern vaccines do not come from dead bacteria, but can be made as long as there are key molecules. .
In fact, scientists have already tried to “manufacture†blood vessels, organs, and other biological substances in 3D printing.
Security Risk
Influenza virus can also spread through the Internet
While Venter’s madness was attacked by ethicists and scientists, discussions outside technology continued.
Not to mention whether future regulators will allow public health areas that involve the general public to adopt such technologies. There may be security risks in the transmission. "New Scientist" points out some possible problems with the article. For example, will people discard such emails as spam? How to ensure the quality control of the entire process? The greatest risk is whether the transmission process will be used by terrorists to create biological weapons. What if the bad guys sent a counterfeit warning and sent the virus weapons to the public? What will happen if you imagine the spread of the Spanish flu virus in 1918 that caused tens of millions of deaths through the Internet?
Venter agrees. "We always receive spam, people will make counterfeit drugs. Supervision is an interesting part." He said.
"Linkage" magazine writes that security, etc. are all issues that need to be considered. Once this technology is applied, it needs to drive more advanced mail filtering mechanisms and more secure software technologies. In addition, once this kind of bioprinter becomes popular, scientists and engineers must also ensure the accuracy of molecular printing, a little mistake in the molecular structure, and the protein produced may lead to an uncontrollable situation. (Jin Yong)
â– People
Science "bad boy" who walks into the business world
At present, Venter and his company have taken the lead in the world in synthetic DNA, which may be related to his break with the traditional scientific community.
In the 1980s, Venter worked at the well-qualified National Institutes of Health to conduct gene sequencing studies. But he is obsessed with the idea that genes can rapidly transform medical care and insists on using a sequencing method that is not fully recognized by the scientific community for accuracy. He was not satisfied with the careful progress of the traditional scientific community in the human genetic program. He stepped out of government agencies and cooperated with a private company to become a competitor to the Human Genome Project.
He wants to establish a genome database that can be used for payment to monopolize genomic patents. However, in 2000, US President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair issued a joint statement announcing their support for the free publication of genomic data to the world and breaking the business dream of the Ventel monopolizing genetic information. James Watson, who was taking a completely different path from Venter, disliked Venter's businessman style. In a recent interview, he said, “Winter does not change the world.†He believes that monopoly will slow research progress and allow Medical tests become more expensive.
"Children" challenge science ethics
In recent years, the “non-mainstream†Venter in the scientific community has surpassed everyone else in the biological sciences.
In 2010, Venter once again violated the traditional scientific community. He and his team used four bottles of chemical substances to successfully “manufacture†a synthetic cell that can replicate itself. This is the first time in the world that artificial synthesis has occurred. The form of life has shocked the molecular biological world and has caused great controversy in the world.
However, he did not care about the critics of science ethicists. He also provocatively adopted the name "Sindia" (meaning "children").
Venter said that at present, his team has also designed three forms of life substances, which are trying to see what works. In his view, the expected synthetic life industry will reach 100 billion US dollars in output value.
In addition, Venter is currently trying to inject DNA from one cell into another, reorganizing the host through "gene software," but there is also the issue of genetic privacy.
The scientific madman said in an interview that the biggest obstacle to the development of genetic technology is still human psychology. He said that today's world has a population of 7 billion. If we want to solve the challenges of food, clean water, energy and medical treatment, we must accept synthetic biology. “The only limitation of potential applications for synthetic life exists in our own imagination,†he said. “We are now a species that is 100% dependent on the existence of technology.†(Kim Min)
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