Open Source, Genetically Engineered Machines From a Kit?

An anonymous reader writes "Students in an MIT competition are helping to build a dev-kit for cells. Together with synthetic biologists, they're building a Registry of Standard Biological Parts called BioBricks. They aim to do for cells what open source software has done for computers. 'The competition is a showcase for the burgeoning field of synthetic biology. Knight and his colleagues Randy Rettberg and Drew Endy, who created the contest in 2004, want to make biological systems easy to build by applying the tools of computer science and engineering: using standard parts and modular design to simplify complex systems. The goal is to create "genetic Legos" that could produce any chemical, from ethanol to pharmaceuticals.'"

Slashdot Needs An Engineered Calendar

[Anonymous Coward]

to prevent dupes [slashdot.org].

Zzzz.

Re:i swear i'm not a luddite

[LionMage]

Wow... Normally, I'd let this stuff slide, but...

upside: any elicit drug [...]

Emphasis added. The word you want to use here is "illicit," as in illegal. "Elicit" is a homophone, but means something entirely different.

[...] and there is no putting pandora back in the box [...]

OK, Pandora was never in the box, you dig? The box (actually a jar in better translations) contained a whole host of blessings (at least in some versions), but also many curses besides (from the versions of the myth that have persisted in popular culture), and it was the opening of the box that released these ills into the world. Most of the versions I've read say that hope was the only thing left in the box after it was carelessly opened, something humanity was allowed to hang onto in order to make up for all the evilness that was let loose, and to compensate us for the good things that were lost. There's a pretty good retelling of the story here [pantheon.org].

Sorry Guys, This Is NOT a Threat

[Pugio]

I don't often post, but most of the comments here are completely wrong. I'm a bioengineer and have been following this project since its inception. Some points:

- This technology is NOT any more effective or dangerous than "traditional" genetic engineering. You will not be able to make a unicorn, dragon, or some unholy dog/cat combination.

- Building an Über Death Virus from this takes just as much skill, equipment, and knowledge as it would using standard tools. First, the BioBricks are made for use inside of a living bacterial organism. They will not work without a cell to operate in. A virus, by contrast, is just a specialized collection of proteins that is not in any way alive - something very very different from BioBricks.

"But what about a killer bacteria?" I hear you ask. Well, while technically possible, it's not easy to make something that can live comfortably in our bodies. To a foreign bacteria, our bodies are a fortress crawling with guards and death traps. It has taken nature millions of years to develop microbes capable of harming us (as our immune systems have also grown to combat each new threat.) The key point here is that, to create a NEW bacterial threat, one would have to be very well versed in biology and genetic engineering. What's more, for someone of this skill level, it would be much easier to create such a bacteria using standard biological techniques, not BioBricks.

These BioBricks are incredibly cool and powerful, within their problem domain. Making bacteria do things is very different from giving them the ability to successfully harm our bodies and spread to other hosts.

that was a rhetorical question

[circletimessquare]

i understand the answer already

the truth is, your mind is brittle and inflexible

the average person on the street can decipher text messages, slang, etc., without any trouble or mental fuzziness

however, there exists a certain inflexible segment of small-mined, petty, and mediocre people who believe it is somehow more important to focus on the color of the wrapping paper rather than gift

that's a metaphor for valuing cosmetics over content. it means i think your mind is shallow. can you comprehend a metaphor dear autistic turd? or not until i rigidly adhere to strunk & white's elements of style will your dim mind whir and click the meaning into place?

in which case, it is with PLEASURE that my poor formatting trips up such brittle minds. consider it a useful filter on my part: when i confront grammar nazis, i am ENCOURAGED to format poorly based on your brittle reactions. i would choose not to continue communicating with minds that work like yours. and my poor formatting achieves that. magical, huh?

your feeble mind's inability to get over that which normal folk have no trouble digesting mentally is a loud and clear signal for me to ignore you, continue on my way, and be happy brittle feeble minds like yours are tripped up and sent packing from the conversation

you'll notice that was a run on sentence. you'll notice i don't fucking care, and am happy not to care, considering the type of person who does care. i feel liberated from mediocrity by ignoring your concerns

capisce, you useless feeble dim bulb? oh, and by the way, if you're still reading at this point: IF YOU GOT THROUGH THAT MUCH NEGATIVE BULLSHIT, AS BADLY FORMATTED AS IT WAS, AND YOU'RE STILL READING, WHY. THE. FUCK. DO. YOU. FUCKING. CARE. SO. MUCH. ABOUT. GRAMMAR. YOU. FUCKING. BRITTLE. MINDED. TURD?

xoxoxoxoxoxox