On the Future of Species: Authoring Life by Means of Artificial Biological Intelligence

關鍵字：基因組編寫/ CRISPR/ Artificial Biological Intelligence

想像一個未來，我們的房子是用「種」出來的，而不是蓋出來的。在那裡，智慧型手機是活體生物，衣服擁有自己的意見，而人類所有的知識都能塞進一粒微小的 DNA 塵埃中。那是一個疾病已成往事、人類壽命大幅延長的世界。

基因組編寫公司 Genyro 的創始人亞德里安·沃爾夫森指出，要實現這一點，我們必須將生物學轉化為一種可預測、可編程的工程材料。這意味著我們需要破解 DNA 的「生成式語法」（generative grammar）：也就是生命本身的語言。屆時，我們將有可能「編寫」基因組——如果我們願意，甚至可以重寫我們自己的基因組。

我們正處於一場由人工智慧與合成生物學匯流所驅動的技術革命門檻。目前我們尚處於「塗鴉階段」——編寫病毒、細菌與酵母菌的基因組——但最終我們將能編寫出已滅絕物種、甚至是從未存在過的新物種基因組。生命將變得「可計算」，脫離其演化歷史的束縛，不再受達爾文演化論的侷限。

儘管這項力量提供了非凡的契機，但也伴隨著巨大的風險，因此每個人都有必要了解未來可能面臨的局面。編寫基因組能協助守護地球，但也可能侵蝕人性、擾亂生態系統。在這部大膽且具前瞻性的論述中，沃爾夫森提供了一份指南，說明這一切將如何達成，以及我們該如何應對這個令人震驚的新世界，並為我們提供指南針，引領我們安全、明智且合乎倫理地前行。

Imagine a future where we grow houses rather than build them. Where smartphones are living, clothing has opinions, and all human knowledge fits into a speck of DNA. A world where disease is a thing of the past, and the human lifespan is dramatically extended.

To achieve this, says Adrian Woolfson - founder of the genome writing company Genyro - we must transform biology into a predictive, programmable engineering material. That means decoding the generative grammar of DNA: the language of life itself. It may then be possible to author genomes - and, if we choose, even rewrite our own.

We are at the cusp of a technological revolution, driven by the convergence of artificial intelligence and synthetic biology. Currently at the scribbling phase - writing the genomes of viruses, bacteria and yeast - we will eventually author the genomes of extinct and never-before-realised species. Life will become computable, detached from its past, and no longer bound by Darwinian evolution.

While offering extraordinary opportunities, this power also carries great risk and it is vital for everyone to understand what the future might hold. Genome writing can help preserve the planet, but may also undermine human nature and disrupt ecosystems. In this bold and visionary account, Woolfson provides a guide to how this might all be achieved and how we should navigate this astonishing new world, offering a moral compass to help us do so safely, wisely and ethically.