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More remarkably, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning-based computers in the next century may alter how we relate to ourselves.
The digital ecosystem’s networked computer components, which are made possible by machine learning and artificial intelligence, will have a significant impact on practically every sector of the economy. These integrated AI and computing capabilities could pave the way for new frontiers in fields as diverse as genetic engineering, augmented reality, robotics, renewable energy, big data, and more.
A molecular assembler, as defined by K. Eric Drexler, is a “proposed device able to guide chemical reactions by positioning reactive molecules with atomic precision”. A molecular assembler is a kind of molecular machine. Some biological molecules such as ribosomes fit this definition. This is because they receive instructions from messenger RNA and then assemble specific sequences of amino acids to construct protein molecules. However, the term “molecular assembler” usually refers to theoretical human-made devices.
Beginning in 2007, the British Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council has funded development of ribosome-like molecular assemblers. Clearly, molecular assemblers are possible in this limited sense. A technology roadmap project, led by the Battelle Memorial Institute and hosted by several U.S. National Laboratories has explored a range of atomically precise fabrication technologies, including both early-generation and longer-term prospects for programmable molecular assembly; the report was released in December, 2007. In 2008 the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council provided funding of 1.5 million pounds over six years for research working towards mechanized mechanosynthesis, in partnership with the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, amongst others. Likewise, the term “molecular assembler” has been used in science fiction and popular culture to refer to a wide range of fantastic atom-manipulating nanomachines, many of which may be physically impossible in reality. Much of the controversy regarding “molecular assemblers” results from the confusion in the use of the name for both technical concepts and popular fantasies. In 1992, Drexler introduced the related but better-understood term “molecular manufacturing”, which he defined as the programmed “chemical synthesis of complex structures by mechanically positioning reactive molecules, not by manipulating individual atoms”.This article mostly discusses “molecular assemblers” in the popular sense. These include hypothetical machines that manipulate individual atoms and machines with organism-like self-replicating abilities, mobility, ability to consume food, and so forth. These are quite different from devices that merely (as defined above) “guide chemical reactions by positioning reactive molecules with atomic precision”. Because synthetic molecular assemblers have never been constructed and because of the confusion regarding the meaning of the term, there has been much controversy as to whether “molecular assemblers” are possible or simply science fiction. Confusion and controversy also stem from their classification as nanotechnology, which is an active area of laboratory research which has already been applied to the production of real products; however, there had been, until recently, no research efforts into the actual construction of “molecular assemblers”. Nonetheless, a 2013 paper by David Leigh’s group, published in the journal Science, details a new method of synthesizing a peptide in a sequence-specific manner by using an artificial molecular machine that is guided by a molecular strand. This functions in the same way as a ribosome building proteins by assembling amino acids according to a messenger RNA blueprint. The structure of the machine is based on a rotaxane, which is a molecular ring sliding along a molecular axle. The ring carries a thiolate group which removes amino acids in sequence from the axle, transferring them to a peptide assembly site. In 2018, the same group published a more advanced version of this concept in which the molecular ring shuttles along a polymeric track to assemble an oligopeptide that can fold into a α-helix that can perform the enantioselective epoxidation of a chalcone derivative (in a way reminiscent to the ribosome assembling an enzyme). In another paper published in Science in March 2015, chemists at the University of Illinois report a platform that automates the synthesis of 14 classes of small molecules, with thousands of compatible building blocks. In 2017 David Leigh’s group reported a molecular robot that could be programmed to construct any one of four different stereoisomers of a molecular product by using a nanomechanical robotic arm to move a molecular substrate between different reactive sites of an artificial molecular machine. An accompanying News and Views article, titled ‘A molecular assembler’, outlined the operation of the molecular robot as effectively a prototypical molecular assembler.
Sepideh Sadaghiani, Associate Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, & Bioengineering at Illinois, lectured on “The functional connectome across temporal scales” at 4:00 pm in 2,269 Beckman Institute and on Zoom. Introduction by Ryan Miller, MBM trainee and PhD candidate in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering.
Michael Levin is a Distinguished Professor in the Biology department at Tufts University. He holds the Vannevar Bush endowed Chair and serves as director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts and the Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology. To explore the algorithms by which the biological world implemented complex adaptive behavior, he got dual B.S. degrees, in CS and in Biology and then received a PhD from Harvard University. He did post-doctoral training at Harvard Medical School, where he began to uncover a new bioelectric language by which cells coordinate their activity during embryogenesis. The Levin Lab works at the intersection of developmental biology, artificial life, bioengineering, synthetic morphology, and cognitive science.
✅TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 – Introduction. 1:27 – The Prisoner’s Dilemma (Game Theory applied to Life) 7:55 – Computational Boundary of the Self. 10:17 – “Goal States” & “Cognitive Light Cones” 13:55 – To Naturalise Cognition. 19:00 – The Hard Problem of Consciousness. 23:10 – Defining Consciousness. 27:14 – The Field of Diverse Intelligence. 43:25 – Who inspired Mike within his field. 46:52 – Is Mike a Panpsychist? 52:09 – Thoughts on Illusionism. 55:44 – Links to IIT 57:56 – Technological Approach to Mind Everywhere (TAME 2.0) 1:02:14 – Proof of Humanity Certification. 1:10:00 – Phase Transitions in Mathematics. 1:15:26 – Bioelectric Medicine. 1:21:06 – Can Cells Think? What is the Self? Is Man a Machine? 1:28:55 – Metacognition & Cloning. 1:35:49 – Teleology, Teleonomy & Teleophobia. 1:50:08 – All Intelligence is Collective Intelligence. 1:54:33 — Conclusion.
Video Title: What is The Field of Diverse Intelligence? Hacking the Spectrum of Mind & Matter | Michael Levin.
Welcome to another exciting episode of our podcast series, where we dive deep into the world of science and innovation! In today’s episode, we have the privilege of interviewing Prof. Michael Levin, a renowned researcher in the fields of bioelectricity, regenerative biology, and biophysics.
Prof. Levin is the director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University and has been making groundbreaking discoveries that are revolutionizing the field of regenerative medicine. His research focuses on understanding the electrical communication within and between cells, and how this communication can be harnessed for tissue repair and regeneration.
In this thought-provoking conversation, we cover:
🔹 The fundamentals of bioelectricity and its role in cellular communication.
Throughout Gray’s life before she got the treatment, the deformed, sickle-shaped red blood cells caused by the genetic disorder would regularly incapacitate her with intense, unpredictable attacks of pain. Those crises would send Gray rushing to the hospital for pain medication and blood transfusions. She could barely get out of bed many days; when she became a mom, she struggled to care for her four children and couldn’t finish school or keep a job.
But then she received the treatment on July 2, 2019. Doctors removed some of her bone marrow cells, genetically modified them with CRISPR and infused billions of the modified cells back into her body. The genetic modification was designed to make the cells produce fetal hemoglobin, in the hopes the cells would compensate for the defective hemoglobin that causes the disease.
A Mississippi woman’s life has been transformed by a treatment for sickle cell disease with the gene-editing technique CRISPR. All her symptoms from a disease once thought incurable have disappeared.
What happens when humans begin combining biology with technology, harnessing the power to recode life itself.
What does the future of biotechnology look like? How will humans program biology to create organ farm technology and bio-robots. And what happens when companies begin investing in advanced bio-printing, artificial wombs, and cybernetic prosthetic limbs.
Other topic include: bioengineered food and farming, bio-printing in space, new age living bioarchitecture (eco concrete inspired by coral reefs), bioengineered bioluminescence, cyberpunks and biopunks who experiment underground — creating new age food and pets, the future of bionics, corporations owning bionic limbs, the multi-trillion dollar industry of bio-robots, and bioengineered humans with super powers (Neo-Humans).
As well as the future of biomedical engineering, biochemistry, and biodiversity.
The findings suggest that adenosine base editing raised the expression of fetal hemoglobin to higher, more stable, and more uniform levels than other genome editing technologies that use CRISPR/Cas9 nuclease in human hematopoietic stem cells.
“Ultimately, we showed that not all genetic approaches are equal,” said Jonathan Yen, PhD, genome engineering group director at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “Base editors may be able to create more potent and precise edits than other technologies. But we must do more safety testing and optimization.”
SCD and beta-thalassemia are blood disorders caused by mutations in the gene encoding hemoglobin affecting millions of people. Restoring gene expression of an alternative hemoglobin subunit active in a developing fetus has previously shown therapeutic benefit in SCD and beta-thalassemia patients. The researchers wanted to find and optimize genomic technology to edit the fetal hemoglobin gene.
Adult hemoglobin, expressed primarily after birth, contains four protein subunits—two beta-globin and two alpha-globin. Mutations in the beta-globin gene cause sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia. But humans have another hemoglobin subunit gene (gamma-globin), which is expressed during fetal development instead of beta-globin. Gamma-globin combines with alpha-globin to form fetal hemoglobin. Normally around birth, gamma-globin expression is turned off, and beta-globin is turned on, switching from fetal to adult hemoglobin. Genome editing technologies can introduce mutations that turn the gamma-globin gene back on, thereby increasing fetal hemoglobin production, which can effectively substitute for defective adult hemoglobin production.
“A major highlight of the work is our approach to achieve longevity: using computers to simulate the natural aging system and guide the design and rational engineering of the system to extend lifespan,” Hao told Motherboard. “This is the first time this computationally-guided engineering-based approach has been used in aging research. Our model simulations actually predicted that an oscillator can double the lifespan of the cell, but we were happily surprised that it actually did in experiments.”
The study is part of a growing corpus of mind-boggling research that may ultimately stave off some of the unpleasant byproducts of aging until later in life, while boosting life expectancy in humans overall. Though countless hurdles have to be cleared before these treatments become a reality, Hao thinks his team’s approach could eventually be applied to humans.
“I don’t see why it cannot be applied to more complex organisms,” Hao said. “If it is to be introduced to humans, then it will be a certain form of gene therapy. Of course it is still a long way ahead and the major concerns are on ethics and safety.”
Nominations are now open for the 3D Printing Industry Awards 2023. Who are the leaders in 3D printing? Find out on November 30th when the winners across twenty categories will be announced during a London-based live awards ceremony.
A team of scientists from the University of Sydney and the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) at Westmead have leveraged 3D photolithographic printing to fabricate functional human tissues that accurately mimic an organ’s architecture.
The researchers utilized bioengineering and cell culture techniques to instruct stem cells derived from blood cells and skin cells to become specialized. These specialized cells can then form organ-like structures.
