The Genesis Machine

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. Whether we approve or disapprove of synthetic biology, it is coming. Now, we need to understand its promise and peril. Webb and Hessel help us understand the science as well as the political and societal issues involved.