Crash course on synthetic genomics

Next Monday when your colleagues ask you what you have been doing for the weekend, you might answer you something default like you went out with friends, danced, biked to the beach, etc… Or you could answer you took Edge’s crash course on synthetic genomics.

It’s only six hours of video and deals with questions like “What is life, origins of life, in vitro synthetic life, mirror-life, metabolic engineering for hydrocarbons & pharmaceuticals, computational tools, electronic-biological interfaces, nanotech-molecular-manufacturing, biosensors, accelerated lab evolution, engineered personal stem cells, multi-virus-resistant cells, humanized-mice, bringing back extinct species, safety/security policy.”

The masterclass is guided by George Church and Craig Venter. Participants include scientists, entrepreneurs, cultural impresarios, journalists and architects of the some of the leading companies of our time including Microsoft, Google, Facebook and PayPal – yes, good company indeed.

It is especially sweet how all the ’students’ introduce themselves in the beginning – “I am Larry Page, of Google, I am waiting for the fully designed synthetic pets.” – and continuously intervene with witty questions and remarks throughout the lectures. Well done Edge! Next time you might want to add a few artists and designers in the mix as well.

Via Beyond the Beyond. See als: How biotech will drive our evolution, DNA Synthesizer, Epidermits – the tissue engineered toy.