Designing Networks of Genes…..

_{PaV
May 28, 2009

Intelligent Design

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Intelligent Design}

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I just picked up this article at PhysOrg.com. The kinds of things that scientists are up to these days are quite interesting. Here’s a sample:

Researchers design and build networks of genes, splicing them into bacterial genomes to run specific tasks or manufacture desired molecules – a process akin to installing biological computer software. Though the field is rapidly advancing, the gene-based tools available to synthetic biologists remain limited.

I found the allusion to “installing computer software” quite compelling. Will these ‘synthetic biologists’ be the ones to settle for us the question of whether intelligence is present in the genome? This work is in the May 29th issue of Science, for those who have online access.

Comments

From the abstract: "Synthetic gene networks can be constructed to emulate digital circuits and devices, giving one the ability to program and design cells with some of the principles of modern computing, such as counting." Fourth question: if we can "program" cells using principles of modern computing, then this means that cells are similar in many respects to computers. Should we change Fred Hoyle's famous remark about evolution to read that the likelihood that humans came about by evolution is as probable as a tornado passing through an electronics store and putting together a computer? If we can intelligently manipulate the genome to produce desired ends, like we would a designed instrument such as a computer, then what is the basis for saying that the genome is NOT designed? It's around this kind of thinking that I'm suggesting that synthetic biologists might settle the question for us. That is, if they find more and more intricate ways to manipulate the genome it would seem that at some point the only rational thing to conclude is that the genome has been designed.PaV_{May 29, 2009
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To #4, Lenoxus: No, gene-splicing is not the agreed-upon physical mechanism. To #1,2, and 3: Is it possible, in the face of such outright manipulation of a genome, to deny that the genome contains real-life information? Second question: if it contains real-life information, whence did this arise? Third question: other than in the genome, where, in nature, do we find this type of information?PaV_{May 29, 2009
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For the record… gene splicing is the agreed-upon physical mechanism by which the designer works, yes?Lenoxus_{May 28, 2009
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I doubt it will settle the question. Though as our engineering capabilities continue to advance, it does seem to at the very least demonstrate the power of 'intelligent design' in general. If some day we're able to create a universe in a laboratory (a la the proposals of Andrei Linde), would that count as evidence of intelligent design? What about if we were able to create a simulation of a universe?nullasalus_{May 28, 2009
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I don't think it will settle that question either. Groups intentionally drawing analogies to software design will wind up with gene networks that look like human software. That is not going to tell us much about natural gene networks.Nakashima_{May 28, 2009
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The abstract (from DOI: 10.1126/science.1172005):
Synthetic gene networks can be constructed to emulate digital circuits and devices, giving one the ability to program and design cells with some of the principles of modern computing, such as counting. A cellular counter would enable complex synthetic programming and a variety of biotechnology applications. Here, we report two complementary synthetic genetic counters in Escherichia coli that can count up to three induction events: the first, a riboregulated transcriptional cascade, and the second, a recombinase-based cascade of memory units. These modular devices permit counting of varied user-defined inputs over a range of frequencies and can be expanded to count higher numbers.
Personally, I don't see how this kind of work would "settle for us the question of whether intelligence is present in the genome".Tajimas D_{May 28, 2009
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