Saturday, May 22, 2010

 

Changing the world?

So, Craig Venter has "played God" by synthesising the DNA of a bacterium, sticking it into the host cell of another bacterium, and proving that it behaves exactly like the one it was modelled on. Or "creating artificial life", as the headlines have it.
Of course, without an existing host cell that was already living, it wouldn't have worked. And scientists are already able to genetically modify all kinds of living things, so it's more an extension of existing technology than some kind of Frankenstein breakthrough, but still, impressive stuff.
Predictably, some have been quick to see only danger ahead - uncontrollable gangs of CO2 eating bacteria suffocating all plant life as geo-engineering goes horribly wrong, or terrorists synthesising bio-weapons. But the possibility of using living things to shape our world for us is hardly new. Ever since we domesticated animals to carry our luggage, or selected the best-tasting plants to cultivate, we've been controlling our environment for our own benefit, and a good thing too.
I'm shortly off to the Cheltenham Science Festival, as usual, where I'll be helping some engineers improve their public engagement skills.
Without their work, our lives would be a lot harder, not to mention shorter, with far less time for things like reading, travelling, talking. But when any human desire to change the world is viewed with scepticism or downright hostility, engineers have to make the case for engineering as part of a better future for humankind.
Changing the world is a much bigger project than just technology, of course. But if we're not even open to something as simple as a barrage across the Severn, what hope for transforming society?
And no, I don't mean browbeating everyone into cycling everywhere and washing their clothes less often, before you start....

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