How to build synthetic DNA and send it across the internet | Dan Gibson

Biologist Dan Gibson edits and programs DNA, just like coders program a computer. But his "code" creates life, giving scientists the power to convert digital information into biological material like proteins and vaccines. Now he's on to a new project: "biological transportation," which holds the promise of beaming new medicines across the globe over the internet. Learn more about how this technology could change the way we respond to disease outbreaks and enable us to download personalized prescriptions in our homes.

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33 Comments on How to build synthetic DNA and send it across the internet | Dan Gibson

  1. can you make a dinosaur? I’m not joking. Could this be done with this method? I would loooooove to see a real dinosaur some day; how exciting. Now that I think about more. Wouldn’t this almost be like what happened in the movie The Fly?

    • abstractsbybrian not likely, the DNA if any is left at all from dinosaurs is too old and you wouldn’t be able to make one.

    • Pretty sure there’s no intact dinosaur DNA intact, so anything similar to the Jurassic Park story is impossible. They’re already struggling with the woolly mammoth. Also this method is creating single celled organisms and viruses, not stem cells of more complicated organisms that could be used for creating the first stages of an embryo. Also breeding a huge organism requires a womb or egg of some kind, which is all a lot more complicated than printing a DNA strand and implanting it into a cell.

    • You can, and without lactose! Much cheaper including in terms of carbon footprint, as long as there’s a bit of R&D and economy of scale put into it.

  2. A great tool at its full potential… for the right cause, full of hope in doing so much good with the rights minds / hands, for the people. Thank you, Dr. Dan Gibson.

  3. 720th viewer! this number is the most remembered one for me because my first salary when I started working was $720. Additionally this lecture is amazing thank you Dr. Gibson.

  4. U can kill with a knife or just cut a piece of bread. But when we will be able to create “life” as well as DNA, than we will probably have another crusade 😉

  5. That’s ground breaking, one of the best ted talk about science I have ever seen!!!

    10:02 : John Lithgow is not impressed though.

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