What Could Possibly Go Wrong: Immortal Micro-Organisms
Space Invaders Synthetic organisms like those proposed by Darpa's BioDesign project would be equipped with a self-destruct option, but there is no guarantee they wouldn't escape, mutate, and mate Jamie SneddonJust implement a nice kill-switch, then everything'll be fine Leave it to Darpa, the Pentagon's advanced-research arm, to bring synthetic biology to a new level of creepiness. For 2011, Darpa has dedicated $6 million to a new program called BioDesign, which according to the agency's budget is an attempt to eliminate "the randomness of natural evolutionary advancement" and create synthetic organisms for specific functions-for instance, microorganisms that clean up oil spills or skin cells that an army medic could use to repair injuries. The twist: Darpa wants organisms "that could ultimately be programmed to live indefinitely." Just in case, they would be equipped with a "self-destruct" option. But the self-destruct function, which should destroy the cells at a predetermined time or when...