“The capacity to blunder slightly is the real marvel of DNA. Without this special attribute, we would still be anaerobic bacteria and there would be no music.”
Lewis Thomas
Biological systems are inherently very complex, difficult to manipulate and network dependent. However, there are many similarities between biological and digital systems. In the not too distant, it will be possible to "write" or modify the biocode similar to digital programs. This revolution in biology will make it possible to bioengineer completely new proteins or even organisms with modified or novel functions. We predict that with the exponential decline in cost of genetic manipulation, similar to computer systems, a new generation of biohackers will emerge who will tinker with the biological code. This will result in both enormous benefits and dangers to humanity similar to any technological revolution in human history.
In the news section of Biohacker.com we feature in depth the key advances and discussions about biohacking. This section is updated as relevant advances become available. The date underneath the news link is the latest updated date.
In addition, you can read about variety of biological advances in bioblogs web site, which is updated almost daily. In future we hope to include a forum section for open discussion and sharing of ideas about both the good and bad biohacking.
According to Wikipedia, hacker is a term used to describe different types of computer experts. It is also sometimes extended to mean any kind of expert, especially with the connotation of having particularly detailed knowledge or of cleverly circumventing limits.
In computer linguo "Hacker" is used in two main ways, one positive
and and one pejorative. It can be used in the computing community to describe
a particularly brilliant programmer or technical expert (for example: "Linus
Torvalds, the creator of Linux, is a genius hacker."). In popular usage
and in the media, however, it generally describes computer intruders or criminals.
As a result of this conflict, the term is the subject of some controversy.
The pejorative usage is disliked by many who identify themselves as hackers,
and who do not like their label used negatively. Many users of the positive
form say the "intruder" meaning should be deprecated, and advocate
terms such as "cracker" or "black-hat" to replace it.
Others prefer to follow common popular usage, arguing that the positive form
is confusing and never likely to become widespread.
Around 1997 we (Derya and Vineet) registered the internet domain for Biohacker to set up a site for people who are expert in biological systems and who like to tinker with the genetic code of life. Several earlier citations of the biohacker has appeared as early as 1988. Probably the first visionary use of the term biohacker was cited in a Wired magazine article titled "Hacking the mother code".
By mid-90s we realized that the biological systems were following an exponential advance similar to computer systems, which double in power approximately every 18 months termed the Moore's law. It was then not difficult to extrapolated the exponential pace of biological technologies to near future where whole genomes could be sequenced or synthesized in single days, hours and eventually in seconds. This amazing technological advance meant that future biohackers could manipulate the biocode as hackers today write, decode and tinker with computer code.
Therefore, in not too distant future (possibly within the next decade) it will be possible to create completely new genes or even completely new organisms. Indeed, the first artificial enzyme has already been created (read about it in our frequently updated news section). This biological revolution is likely to change our lives more profoundly than the computer systems and information technologies. While it is impossible to predict the potential possibilities, biohacking is very likely to help curing all human diseases and prolonging human life indefinitely.
The mind bogling power of biological technologies also pose a great threat in the hands of malicious biohackers. At December 7, 2001 we had to take down our biohacker.com web site because of a Wall Street Journal article that suggested that a malicious biohacker could be behind the anthrax letter attacks that occured during that time. However, we believe an open source biology as proposed by Rob Carlson is the only way to ensure safety against the threat of bioterrorism and to realize the amazing potential of biological advances for the benefit of humanity.