Emerging Technologies and a Sustainable, Healthy, Just World

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Emerging Technologies and a Sustainable,
Healthy, Just World

• Will our Genetically Modified Grandchildren Use
  Nanotech Nets to Harvest Cloned Fish on a
  Geo-engineered Planet?

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Human Biotech, Nanotech, Synthetic Biology and
More

• Friday, Oct. 23 (here and now!)
• An Introduction to the Challenges
  Opportunities
• Friday, Nov 6 (10 am PT/1 pm ET)
• Policy, Politics, What Funders Can Do

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• Marcy Darnovsky, PhD
• Associate Executive Director

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CONVERGING TECHNOLOGIES
GENETIC MANIPULATION
REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY
NANO-TECH
NEURO
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
INFO-TECH
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CONVERGING TECHNOLOGIES

• NBIC Nano, Bio, Info, Cogno
• GRINN Genetic, Robotic, Info, Nano, Neuro
  BANG Bits, Atoms, Neurons, Genes
• Whats at stake?
• Remaking the world
• Remaking humanity

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Environmentalism and Emerging Technologies
Connecting the Dots

• Questioning technological manipulation of the
  natural world plants, animals, ecosystems
  humans.
• Precaution in the face of powerful new
  technologies.
• Democratic governance and responsible regulation
  of innovations that can radically alter the
  natural and social world.

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Appropriate Human Biotechnologies
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Appropriate Human Biotechbut handle with care
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Human Biotechnologies of Concern
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Human Biotechnologies On the Shelf

• Cloning pets and endangered species
• Direct-to-consumer gene tests
• Sex selection
• Bio-prospecting, biopiracy, body shopping
• Race-specific drugs
• Gene patents on 20 of human genome
• Eggs for sale, wombs for rent

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Human Biotechnologies In the Labs

• Genes for shyness, ruthlessness, laziness,
  political views, etc. etc. etc.
• Gene doping
• Genetically enhanced animals
• Clone extinct species
• Select traits of future children
• Artificial wombs and gametes

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Human BiotechnologiesOn the Horizon?

• Human clones?
• Brain implants? Transhumans? Post-humans?
• Radical life extension? Immortality?
• Consumer eugenics?
• Designer babies using gene transfer, assisted
  reproduction, cloning, synthetic biology?

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The economy, the media, the entertainment
industry, and the knowledge industry will be
controlled by members of the GenRich
classNaturals will work as low-paid service
providers or as laborers entirely separate
species with no ability to cross-breed, and with
as much romantic interest in each other as a
current human would have for a chimpanzee.
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• What if we could liberate ourselves from the
  tyranny of evolution by being able to design our
  own offspring?
• He stopped long enough for me to digest the fact
  that he was talking about building our own
  children.

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David H. GustonProfessor of Political
ScienceCo-Director, Consortium for Science,
Policy and OutcomesDirector, Center for
Nanotechnology in SocietyArizona State University
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Nanotechnologies
In US NNI since FY 01 12 B NNI FY 10
request 1.6B EHS since FY 05 351 M
(including FY 10 request) the next industrial
revolution
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Nanotechnologies On the Shelf

• Woodrow Wilson International Center
• Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies
• Consumer Products Inventory
• gt 1000 products in commerce (25-30/yr)
• 10 food and beverage
• 15 home and garden
• 60 health and fitness
• personal care
• clothing
• cosmetics
• sporting goods
• gt 50 US in origin
• Nano-silver is most frequently mentioned material

SOURCE http//www.nanotechproject.org/inventories
/consumer/analysis_draft/
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Nanotechnologies In the Lab

• Huge Variety of Developments
• Beetle Borgs (SOURCE Discover 4.30.09)
• UC Berkeley, funded by DARPA
• Molecular Motors and DNA (SOURCE Technology
  Review 8.11.09)
• Harvard/Tech U. Munich
• Nano Rust (SOURCE Rice/CBEN 5.27.09)
• Rice U., funded by NSF
• Nano Photovoltaics (SOURCE Inside Engineer
  1.22.08)
• GE Global
• Carbon Nanotubes in sheet form (SOURCE Nanocomp
  Technologies 2.18.08)
• Private firm

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Nanotechnologies On the Horizon?

• Nano Roadmap (SOURCE M. Roco, ubiquitous)
• What emerging functions?
• Scenarios Brain-Machine Interface (SOURCE
  CNS-ASU NanoFutures http//cns.asu.edu/nanofutures
  /)
• Who/what are we?
• Abundant, cheap, clean energy
• Solutions, or not attacking root problems?
• Leave only footprints, but how many?
• Space elevator (SOURCE American Scientist
  9-10.97)
• Off this rock, or grabbing more resources?

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Nanotechnologies Mini-Case Cleanliness and
Climate

• Self-cleaning Glass
• E.g., St. Pancras International Station, UK
• Hydrophilic surface means more even run-off
• 25 nm coating of TiO2 uses photocatalysis to
  break down organic dirt/debris
• BUT Organic debris Sunlight CO2 !?!

SOURCE http//www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/con
tent/interviews/interview/1046/
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Nanotechnologies Mini-Case Whither Benny the
Bear?

• Nano Silver
• Used in array of consumer products
• Dressings/medical applications
• Benny the Bear
• Clothing
• But where does it go?

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Synthetic Biology
DNA is code Craig Venter (JVCI) boots up new
organisms. Cellular structures are
interchangeable parts Drew Endy (Stanford)
registers standardized ones. Exploring
biological space The number of theoretical
possibilities for synthetic assemblyfar exceeds
the narrow space sampled in 4 billion years of
evolutionary time. George Poste, FRS, former
CSTO, SmithKline Beecham and chair, DOD Task
Force on Synthetic Biology
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Synthetic Biology On the Shelf

• Synthetic Polio Virus (Stony Brook, 2002)
• IASB/SynBio 4.0
• Global Market (BCC Research)
• 234M in 2008
• 2.4B in 2013
• Registry of Standard Biological Parts
• 3200 genetic parts that can be mixed and
  matched to build synthetic biology devices and
  systems

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Synthetic Biology In the Lab

• Cloning DNA from Frozen Mouse (SOURCE New
  Scientist, 11.3.08)
• Daughterless Carp Project (SOURCE CSIRO, 2007)
• Artemisinin Project
• Minimal Genome, B. subtilis (271 genes)
• Fully synthetic bacterial genome (M. genitalium)
• Synthetic life form by end of the year!?

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Synthetic Biology On the Horizon?

• Cloning Extinct Species (SOURCE CNN 11.18.08)
• Good biodiversity or bad?
• Engineered Plagues for Invasive Species (e.g.,
  Stewart Brand, Conservation, 2006)
• Integrated pest management, or plague?
• Sugar Economy (SOURCE ETC Group, 10.9.08)
• Biosustainability or neo-colonialism?
• Earth Engineering and Carbon Sequestration
  (SOURCE New Scientist 7.25.09)
• Saving the climate or messing with Mother Nature?

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Synthetic Biology Mini-CaseDIY Bio and
Bio-Hacking

• Applied Biosystems 373 DNA Sequencer
• Brandeis U.
• Ebay, 700-2000
• Applied Biosystems 392 DNA/RNA Synthesizer
• University of Leeds
• Ebay, 2750 SH
• Polio virus (redux)
• Protocol found on internet
• Sequences by mail order
• International Genetically Engineered Machine
  Contest (http//2009.igem.org/Main_Page)
• Use RSBP to design novel organisms
• 5 teams in 04 to 110 in 09
• Slovenia, 2006!
• Evolving attention to security and safety

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Second Session

• Friday 6 November
• 10 am PT / 1 pm ET
• Biotech, Nanotech, Synthetic Biology and More
  Policy, Politics, and What Funders Can Do
• We are not too late to shape how these
  technologies will emerge.

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Discussion