It's Alive, But Is It Life: Synthetic Biology and the Future of Creation

For decades, biologists have read and edited DNA, the code of life. Revolutionary developments are giving scientists the power to write it. Instead of tinkering with existing life forms, synthetic biologists may be on the verge of writing the DNA of a living organism from scratch. In the next decade, according to some, we may even see the first synthetic human genome. Join a distinguished group of synthetic biologists, geneticists and bioengineers who are edging closer to breathing life into matter.

This program is part of the Big Ideas Series, made possible with support from the John Templeton Foundation.

Original Program Date: June 4, 2016
MODERATOR: Robert Krulwich
PARTICIPANTS: George Church, Drew Endy, Tom Knight, Pamela Silver

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Synthetic Biology and the Future of Creation 00:00

Participant Intros 3:25

Ordering DNA from the internet 8:10

How much does it cost to make a synthetic human? 13:04

Why is yeast the best catalyst 20:10

How George Church printed 90 billion copies of his book 26:05

Creating synthetic rose oil 28:35

Safety engineering and synthetic biology 37:15

Do we want to be invaded by bad bacteria? 45:26

Do you need a human gene's to create human cells? 55:09

The standard of DNA sequencing in utero 1:02:27

The science community is divided by closed press meetings 1:11:30

The Human Genome Project. What is it? 1:21:45