Via a chain of email forwards starting with Drew Endy (whom we’ve written about previously on Radar), I saw that there’s a nice piece on synthetic biology by Rudy Rucker in Newsweek. Here’s the best bit:
One big worry is what nanotechnologists call the “gray-goo problem.” What’s to stop a particularly virulent SynBio organism from eating everything on earth? My guess is that this could never happen. Every existing plant, animal, fungus and protozoan already aspires to world domination. There’s nothing more ruthless than viruses and bacteria—and they’ve been practicing for a very long time.
… I have a mental image of germ-size MIT nerds putting on gangsta clothes and venturing into alleys to try some rough stuff. And then they meet up with the homies who’ve been keeping it real for a billion years or so.
Lovely! Although Rudy’s humorous tone may keep Newsweek readers from realizing just how significant synthetic biology is as “news from the future,” this is still an interesting sign of mainstream acceptance of this technology.