‘Regenesis Summary

8/12/2019 Regenesis Summary

1/6

5/18/2014 #23. A Summary of Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves by George M. Church and Ed Regis | New Books in Brief

http://newbooksinbrief.com/2012/10/30/23-a-summary-of-regenesis-how-synthetic-biology-will-reinvent-nature-and-ourselves-by-george-m-church-and-ed-regis/

#23.A Summary of Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology

Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves by George M. Church

and Ed Regis

Posted on October 30, 2012

Table of Contents:

i. Introduction/Synopsis

PART I: AN INTRODUCTION TO SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY

1. Understanding DNA: The Basics

2. Reading DNA

3. The Evolution of Synthetic Biology: Gene Modification and Creation (From Splicing to Writing)

4. The Standardization of Synthetic Biology: Biobricks

PART II: THE APPLICATIONS OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY

5. IGEM

6. Bioenergy: Bioelectricity and Biofuels

a. Bioelectricity

b. Biofuels

7. Biomaterials: Biochemicals and Bioplastics

Regeneis: How Syn thetic

Biology Will Reinv ent

Nature and Ourselves by

George M. Chur ch and Ed

Regis (Basic Books;October 2, 201 2)

A ds by O nlineBrow serA dv ertising A d O ptions

New Books in BriefKeeping you connected to the best ideas in the world of new non-fiction
http://newbooksinbrief.com/http://jdl.findpre.net/sd/apps/adinfo-1.0-p/index.html?bj1PbmxpbmVCcm93c2VyQWR2ZXJ0aXNpbmcmaD1qZGwuZmluZHByZS5uZXQmYz1ncmVlbiZvPXdzYXImZD0mdD0xOzI7Mzs0OzU7Njs3Ozg7OTsxMDsxMTsxMjsxMzsxNCZhPTEwMTgmcz0xMDA1Jnc9bmV3Ym9va3NpbmJyaWVmLmNvbSZiPWJkMiZyZD0mcmk9http://i0.wp.com/newbooksinbrief.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/regenesis_how_synthetic_biology_will_reinvent_nature_and_ourselves_by_george_church_ed_regis_dustjacket_book_cover2.jpghttp://newbooksinbrief.com/2012/10/30/23-a-summary-of-regenesis-how-synthetic-biology-will-reinvent-nature-and-ourselves-by-george-m-church-and-ed-regis/http://www.statcounter.com/


2/6



a. Biochemicals

b. Bioplastics

8. The Future of Biomaterials and Engineered Organisms: Mirror Biology

9. Biomedicine

a. Diagnostics

b. Drugs and Treatments

c. Vaccines and Immunization

d. Engineering the Human Genome

10. Paleo-Cloning: Resurrecting Extinct Species

a. The Pyrenean Ibex

b. Woolly Mammoths and Beyond

11. Moving Forward in Synthetic Biology: DIY Biology

12. Conclusion

i. Introduction/Synopsis

DNA was only discovered about a century ago, and its structure remained a mystery until about half a century ago, but since this time our knowledge

and understanding of DNA has grown immensely (indeed exponentially). Whats more, this understanding has evolved to include not just anunderstanding of how DNA works, but also how it can be manipulated to help advance our ends. The most glaring example here is the phenomenon of

genetically modified food. Though not without controversy initially (and some fringe opposition that lives on to this day), it is fair to say that genetically

modified food was one of the major scienti fic advances of the 20 century. Over and above this, our understanding of DNA appeared to reach its most

impressive manifestation with the successful sequencing of the human genome in the year 2000.

For the genetics professor and pioneering genetic engineer George Church, however, genetically modified food and the Human Genome Project are but

the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential of genomics. Indeed, since the year 2005, the exponential growth rate in our ability to read and

write DNA has increased from 1.5-fold per year (a rate that matches Moores law), to the incredible rate of 10-fold per year (p. 243). This explosion in

scientific and technological progress has resulted in dramatic advancements in the areas of biochemicals, biomaterials, biofuels and biomedicine.

Whats more, advancements in these technologies are but in their incipient stage, and the future of genomics promises to dwarf these initial

achievements. In their new book Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and OurselvesGeorge Church and science writer Ed Regis

take us through the developments that have occurred recently in the area of genomics, and also where these developments are likely to take us in the

future.

When it comes to the current state of the field, manipulating DNA has already allowed us to produce organisms with new features, such as foodstuffs

with novel properties, greater productivity and nutritional value, and resistance to pathogens. Over and above this, micro-species have been

programmed to do such things as detect impurities in drinking water, produce electricity from wastewater (and purify the wastewater in the process),

produce blood, produce vaccines, take pictures, and even store information. Indeed, the potential to use DNA as a store of information is already

recognized to be the likely next leap in computer science, and is poised to initiate a revolution in informatics (just imagine storing all of the information

in Wikipedia [in every language] on a chip the size of a blood cell, for a cost of $1 for 100,000 copies).

And, of course, the potential to manipulate genomes does not end with other species: it can also be extended to our own. Actualizing this potential is

not far off, and includes such things as increasing intelligence, gaining full immunity to any pathogen (real or hypothetical), and dramatically extending

the lifespan (if not eradicating mortality altogether).

In addition to manipulating genomes for the purpose of creating organisms with new biological features, the productive capacity of the genome can also

be exploited to produce new substances and materials, such as chemicals, plastics, fuels, drugs, and vaccines. Successes in each of these areas

has already been achieved, and the field is on the cusp of scaling-up these processes to an industrial scale. Whats more, manipulating genes shows

the promise of expanding the current repertoire of the building blocks of substances and materials to produce a whole new array thereof.

Here is Dr. Church in a TED talk from 2010 discussing some recent advances in synthetic biology:

th


3/6

0:00/ 14:20

George Church at TEDMED 2010


4/6

0:00/ 5:08

What is DNA? (draft version)

Curtis SerVaas

on November 25, 2012 at 6:42 amsaid:

Great review! Thanks for saving me from reading through the book.

The Book Reporter
http://newbooksinbrief.com/http://www.facebook.com/curtis.servaas


5/6



on November 25, 2012 at 11:17 pmsaid:

No problem, Curtis. Im glad you liked the article.

Cheers,

Aaron

Sam Diener

on August 14, 2013 at 6:58 pmsaid:

Thanks for summarizing the book, adding links, and adding the videos. I just read the book, but your summaries are succinct and useful, and

you added value through your links and videos.

The Book Reporter

on August 14, 2013 at 11 :07 pmsaid:

Thanks for your comment. Im glad you found the article useful, and enjoyed the links and videos. You may be interested in an article I

wrote recently on a similar book called Creation: How Science Is Reinventing Life Itself by Adam Rutherford. You can check it out

here: http://newbooksinbrief.com/2013/07/10/38-a-summary-of-creation-how-science-is-reinventing-life-itself-by-adam-rutherford/

Cheers,

Aaron

Heather

on February 11, 2014 at 6:21 pmsaid:

Thank you so much for this understandable review. I find bioengineering so so fascinating. But

I couldnt quite synthesize Regenesis by George Church and Ed Regis. But, I really wanted to because of his personal experience with the

Human Genome Project and Biogen. It was frustrating because there were so many real life examples, many performed by the professor

himself, hidden in with the data.

I also just got your How Science is Reinventing Life. If you have any new ones, please email me. I will be your first download.

All the best to you. Heather

The Book Reporter

on February 11, 2014 at 7:10 pmsaid:

Hi Heather. Good to hear youre enjoying the biotech articles. If youre looking for more, Id highly recommend my summary of J. Craig

Venters latest book Life at the Speed of Light. Venter has been at the forefront of biotech for 30 years and is currently doing some ofthe most important work in synthetic genomics (heck, he practically invented the field!). The summary is here:

http://newbooksinbrief.com/2013/12/03/48-a-summary-of-life-at-the-speed-of-light-from-the-double-helix-to-the-dawn-of-digital-life-by-j-

craig-venter/

Cheers,

Aaron

A ds by O nlineBrow serA dv ertising A d O ptions
http://jdl.findpre.net/sd/apps/adinfo-1.0-p/index.html?bj1PbmxpbmVCcm93c2VyQWR2ZXJ0aXNpbmcmaD1qZGwuZmluZHByZS5uZXQmYz1ncmVlbiZvPXdzYXImZD0mdD0xOzI7Mzs0OzU7Njs3Ozg7OTsxMDsxMTsxMjsxMzsxNCZhPTEwMTgmcz0xMDA1Jnc9bmV3Ym9va3NpbmJyaWVmLmNvbSZiPWJkMiZyZD0mcmk9http://newbooksinbrief.com/2013/12/03/48-a-summary-of-life-at-the-speed-of-light-from-the-double-helix-to-the-dawn-of-digital-life-by-j-craig-venter/http://newbooksinbrief.com/2013/07/10/38-a-summary-of-creation-how-science-is-reinventing-life-itself-by-adam-rutherford/


6/6



Documents

‘Regenesis Summary