Craig Venter, the famed American scientist who created the world’s first synthetic life, is working on a “DNA box” that could teletransport medicine and vaccines into our homes or to colonists in space.
The box, which would attach to a computer, would receive DNA sequences over the internet to synthesize proteins, viruses and even living cells. It could, for example, fill a prescription for insulin, provide flu vaccine during a pandemic or even produce phage viruses targeted to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
It could also help future Martian colonists by giving them access to the vaccines, antibiotics or personalized drugs they needed on the red planet. And should DNA-based life ever be found there, a digital version could be transmitted back to Earth, where scientists could recreate the extraterrestrial organism using their own life-printing box.
“We call it a Digital Biological Converter. And we have the prototype,” says Venter.
Read the full, original story here: Craig Venter: ‘This isn’t a fantasy look at the future. We are doing the future’
Additional Resources:
- “Can Our DNA Electromagnetically ‘Teleport’ Itself? One Researcher Thinks So,” Popular Science
- “Teleportation of DNA Molecules,” The Monroe Institute
- “Craig Venter creates synthetic life form,” The Guardian
