New tests prove Covid-19 virus wasn’t made by humans in a lab
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As our mastery of synthetic biology improves so too does our ability to create new types of artificial bio-weaponry, and it’s freaking governments out. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. A decade or so ago the mere thought...
World first after scientists create artificial cells that react to their environment
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As humanity’s understanding of nature and the code of life, DNA, improves we’re closing in on being able to create synthetic lifeforms with amazing properties. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. Cells are the basic unit of life,...
German scientists just created the world’s first self-replicating synthetic cells
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As our ability to make fully synthetic DNA and genomes accelerates inevitably scientists will want to cross the next step – making living, alien organisms that replicate. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. The creation of life is...
Stanford developed a gene editing tool that identifies and de-bugs faulty genes
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the technology of the future increasingly looks like it will be biological based we’ll need more “biological debuggers” like this one that can debug it. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. This is a good example of...
NASA unveils plans to grow homes on Mars and the Moon out of fungi
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As odd as this might sound it’s actually a very logical idea when you think about it, and NASA aren’t the first to think about growing homes or cities out of plants. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog....
Scientists get closer to creating synthetic cells that can replicate themselves
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As our grasp of synthetic biology improves we’re nearing the point where we can create completely synthetic, unnatural cells not found anywhere in nature, and get them to replicate. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. It’s one thing...
Nvidia creates the world’s first video game demo using AI generated graphics
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As AI becomes both the tool and the creator of graphics and content, you can expect to see much more of this in the future. Interested in the Exponential Future? Connect, download a free E-Book, watch a keynote, or browse my blog. The recent boom in Artificial Intelligence (AI)...
Synthetic lifeforms closer to reality after AI creates world’s first synthetic genome
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The creation of the world’s first fully synthetic genome by an AI is a major milestone in synthetic biology researchers quest to create the world’s first fully synthetic lifeforms. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. Scientists from ETH Zurich...
Designer cells with two genetic codes give life on Earth a serious upgrade
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In the future not all life will be organic, increasingly more of it will be synthetic, and that’s a game changer that at the very least means aliens and the X-Men could become real. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore...
Researchers gene hacked human cells and turned them into dual core computers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Computers have transformed human society, and next they’ll transform humans. Interested in the future and want to experience even more?! eXplore More. The CRISPR gene-editing system is usually known for helping scientists create gene hacked twins resistant to HIV and cancer vaccines, cure blindness, genetic...
US military genetics program to turn marine life into giant living sensor networks
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As we learn more about the genetic code and how to modify it organisations around the world are starting to look into new ways of turning nature to their advantage. A few months ago I wrote about how DARPA, the bleeding edge research arm...
US researchers get $1.7m grant to create wonder bio-material that lasts 500 million years
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Everything in the universe is made from material, whether it’s biological or synthetic, and as we unravel natures mysteries we could create products that, literally, last forever. It’s the most durable biological material you’ve never heard of, Sporopollenin, and it makes plastics and other materials...
Birth of genetically engineered twins resistant to HIV causes global outrage
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Imagine growing old and never experiencing what it’s like to be ill because you were genetically engineered in the womb to be resistant to all known pathogens and viruses, technology is starting to make that a reality. A little while ago I wrote about...
Synthetic biology just got its own special programming language
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to create and control discrete chemical and biological processes and reactions is extremely difficult, this new language aims to simplify it, alot. Synthetic biology is an exciting new field of research that applies engineering principles to biology, and so far it’s being used...
Scientists get funding to grow neural networks in petri dishes
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The future of computing isn’t silicon or quantum, it’s biological. Will the computers of the future be built in factories as they are today, or will they be grown in labs like cell cultures? You might think that this is a daft question, and...
Futurist Keynote, London: The Future of Superyacht Design, SuperyachtNews
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As the superyacht industry hots up and competition intensifies superyacht companies have to work harder to stay at the leading edge of design trends. Firstly, I’d like to thank the team at RWD, a superyacht design company in the UK, and Feyi and Rory from...
Stopping the DIY bio-terrorists, US military embraces AI and Ginkgo Bioworks
WHY THIS MATTERS As the cost of powerful DIY gene editing kits continue to fall bioterrorism is going to be on the rise, so we need a way to defend against it. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my...
Scientists have turned human cells into complex living computers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to turn human cells into powerful, living computing systems will revolutionise computing, energy, and healthcare, along with a myriad of other industries. Today’s computer hardware is about to get softer, a lot softer, after a research team in the US announced they’ve...
Experiment proves DNA computers could be the most powerful on Earth
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF DNA computers will be the next, next computing revolution after Quantum computers, and their power could be truly staggering. By making DNA endlessly change researchers from the University of Manchester in the UK, who last year created the first ever blueprint for a DNA...
Researchers record first ever HD movies of cells moving through the living body
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to watch cells move under the microscope isn’t the same as being able to observe them in their natural environment, and this breakthrough will lead to a better understanding of cell biology and help create new revolutionary medical treatments. In 2016 we...
