By Alyssa Cho Have you ever wanted to change your life, build your identity from scratch, eliminate all your imperfections? Imagine what could happen if you were able to change your DNA… Oh, wait, you don’t have to. Scientists are already creating ways to alter the genomes of all kinds of organisms using a revolutionary technique called CRISPR-Cas9.
CRISPR, a genome editing tool that is pushing the frontiers of biology, can make precise changes to DNA in a way that is more accurate, cost-effective, and efficient than any other existing genome editing methods. This simple technology which in essence only involves two components—an RNA molecule that targets a string of DNA and an enzyme called Cas9 that snips the gene—has supplied us with an astounding amount of power: we can correct disease-causing mutations, increase crop yields, and save countless human lives. On the other hand, misuse of this technology might lead to a new age of designer babies, a widening gap between the rich and the poor, and a plethora of other problems that could create irreversible changes in society. In the fiercely controversial debate about the future of CRISPR, there are two main points to consider: first, the successes of gene editing so far, and second, the possible outcomes that may arise from unregulated gene editing.
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By Jennifer Yang
Delving Into The Past
The origins of AI began, where most things seem to, in Ancient Greece. One myth mentions an intelligent robot Talos, a creation of Hephaestus—the god of metalworking and forges—designed to protect Europa of Crete. The Greeks themselves dabbled in the making of robots. They can claim to have created the first working robot in history. Made in the shape of a life-size woman, this robot was capable of pouring wine and water. There are also records from various peoples—such as the Chinese, Arab, and English—of creating automatons and contemplating the imitation of human thinking.
Both literature and the film industry have also spent a lot of time toying with the idea of AI. There was Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a story delving into the creation of a being capable of feeling and thinking subjectively. Star Wars is also no stranger to AI, with its beloved robot characters R2-D2, C-3PO, and now BB-8, who all display intelligence, emotion, and the capability to take action based on the previous two traits. Familiar with I, Robot? The whole book, and its movie adaptation, centers around the idea of robots who have become intelligent enough to take actions based on what they believe is the best course of action. To humans, this sort of thinking occurs without much difficulty, but where is the line drawn? I’ll pull an example from the work. There are two people drowning in a large river: a middle-aged man and a young girl. Only one can be rescued. The typical reaction of a human would be to save the child first, but the robot in the movie saves the middle-aged man, based on the calculation that the man had a better chance of survival. The worlds that authors and movie writers have been dreaming about for so long may come to life sooner than you might think, if the progression of AI is anything to judge by. The idea of artificial intelligence (AI) first gathered steam in the 1950s, bringing with it the notion that machines might be capable of thinking (Turing’s Test) and therefore capable of manipulating symbols the same way they do numbers. 60 years later, the accomplishments of game AIs, such as the groundbreaking chess program and ELIZA, the first chatterbot, now look childishly simple in comparison to recent events. |
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