The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology

Webb, Amy; Hessel, Andrew

ISBN 10: 1541797914 / ISBN 13: 9781541797918

Published by PublicAffairs, 2022

May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G1541797914I4N00

Synopsis:

A New Yorker Best Book of the Year

The next frontier in technology is inside our own bodies.

The breakthrough science of synthetic biology has the potential to help solve humanity’s existential challenges from climate change, to the health and feeding of millions, to fighting the next viral outbreak before it becomes a global pandemic.
 
A promising and controversial science that combines biology and artificial intelligence, synthetic biology opens up the possibility of programming biological systems much as we program computers. Rather than life being “a beautiful game of chance,” synthetic biology can give us control over our genetic destiny, say no to bad genes, and add new capabilities into any cell, microbe, plant, or animal—enabling us not just to read and edit DNA, but write it. And herein lies the controversy.
 
Whether we approve or disapprove, synthetic biology is coming. Amy Webb and Andrew Hessel give us the understanding we need to assess both the promise and peril of the science as well as the complex ethical, moral, political, and societal issues surrounding it.

About the Author: Amy Webb is a quantitative futurist, CEO of Future Today Strategy Group (FTSG) and a professor of strategic foresight at the NYU Stern School of Business. Amy was recognized as the #4 most influential management thinker in the world by Thinkers50, a biannual ranking of global business thinkers and won the 2017 Thinkers50 Radar Award for The Signals Are Talking. She is the award-winning author of The Big Nine.
 
Andrew Hessel, a pioneer and expert in synthetic biology, is the cofounder of Humane Genomics, an early-stage company developing synthetic viruses to target and destroy human cancers. He is also the cofounder and chairman of the Center of Excellence for Engineering Biology and the Genome Project, the international scientific effort to engineer large genomes, including the human genome. He is a former distinguished research scientist at Autodesk Life Sciences.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite ...
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Publication Date: 2022
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket