Scientists Create Programmable Bacteria

Scallywag & Vagabond » Savage Predator » Scientists Create Programmable Bacteria: "A recent report surely already responsible for multiple nervous breakdowns and existential crises has stated that scientists at the University of California, San Francisco have created bacteria that can be programmed like a computer, bringing humanity one step closer to fully merging life with technology.

According CNN‘s article on the subject: Researchers built “logic gates” – the building blocks of a circuit – out of genes and put them into E. coli bacteria strains. The logic gates mimic digital processing and form the basis of computational communication between cells, according to synthetic biologist Christopher A. Voigt.

While the cells’ logic operations are still resigned to simple functions, Voigt said the research lays the groundwork for cellular communication similar to computers.

As Voigt further explained, ‘We want to create a programming language for bacteria…We want to program code for bacteria just like you would for a computer.’ Ideally scientists will then be able to (cue the maniacal laughter) ‘gain programmable control of everything biology can do. Maybe they’ll manage to succeed where governments failed, though only barely…"