The Genesis Machine, Amy Webb
The Genesis Machine, Amy Webb
3 Rating(s)
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The Genesis Machine
Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology

Author: Amy Webb, Andrew Hessel

Narrator: Amy Webb, Andrew Hessel, Tim Campbell, Landon Woodson, Amanda Dolan

Unabridged: 10 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 02/15/2022


Synopsis

A New Yorker Best Book of the Year

A breakthrough investigation of synthetic biology: the promising and controversial technology platform that combines biology and artificial intelligence and has the potential to program biological systems like we program computers.
 
The breakthrough science of synthetic biology has the potential to help solve humanity’s existential challenges from climate change, to the health and feeding of millions, to fighting the next viral outbreak before it becomes a global pandemic.
 
A promising and controversial science that combines biology and artificial intelligence, synthetic biology opens up the possibility of programming biological systems much as we program computers. Rather than life being “a beautiful game of chance,” synthetic biology can give us control over our genetic destiny, say no to bad genes, and add new capabilities into any cell, microbe, plant, or animal—enabling us not just to read and edit DNA, but write it. And herein lies the controversy.
 
Whether we approve or disapprove, synthetic biology is coming. Amy Webb and Andrew Hessel give us the understanding we need to assess both the promise and peril of the science as well as the complex ethical, moral, political, and societal issues surrounding it.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Xiaoning on February 20, 2022

A hodgepodge of biotech related topics, none of them presented well and discussed deeply. Authors' research on these topics probably were just google.......more

Goodreads review by Markus on June 18, 2022

Dass die Biotechnologie rasante Fortschritte macht, ist spätestens seit Dolly allgemein bekannt. Was noch nicht flächendeckend angekommen ist, sind die Konsequenzen und das Ausmaß, mit dem diese Revolution unsere Gesellschaft verändern wird. Mit der schnellen und kostengünstigen Manipulation der DNA......more

Goodreads review by Matt on November 16, 2021

Amy Webb picks up where she left off in her previous must-read "The Big Nine" explaining the history, significance and most importantly the future of another world-shaping technology. In "The Big Nine" it was AI. Here, joined by co-author Andrew Hessel, she tackles synthetic biology. It's a big topi......more

Goodreads review by Nicole on July 30, 2022

Great book on bio tech. Pretty high level and not technical. The book spans the parts. First the early origins of bio tech, with each chapter telling a story. The second tells stories of some of the current cutting edge bio tech. And the third part uses creative writing approaches to share futuristi......more

Goodreads review by Colm on July 10, 2022

I enjoyed this non-fiction book about cloning and rewriting the human DNA sequence to further evolve people artificially.......more


Quotes

“[A] thought-provoking introduction to synthetic biology…[a] breathtaking science, but it is also scary. Who's in charge, and where are the brakes?”—Booklist