clement Thomas - pavu.com on Thu, 4 Oct 2001 12:19:40 +0200 (CEST) |
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[Nettime-bold] Re: <nettime> Open Source DNA? |
Complements : open-boucle and DNA -- the pavu.com point of view through an interview with Lucy, summer 2001. "Ginoically Upgraded Datas" http://www.pavu.com/lucy/lucy-interview.htm -- pavu.com -/ the tail moves the dog ! /- Eugene Thacker a *crit : > [This text appears as part of the Wizards of OS 2 conference: > http://wizards-of-os.org] > > Open Source DNA? > > Eugene Thacker > > > Opening the Biomolecular Black Box > > What follows here is a series of observations, comments, and reflections on > the current intersections between computer science and molecular biology. In > conjunction with issues pertaining to open source initiatives, this aim of > this paper is to raise similar questions in the domain of biotechnology. > > All of us have witnessed the media-hype generated by such biotech issues as > the human genome, human cloning, and debates over the use of embryonic stem > cells. But what often goes unmentioned is that the real generator of radical > change in fields like biotech is not genome mapping, cloning, or genetic > engineering ? it is 3bioinformatics.2 Put simply, bioinformatics is a > growing discipline which straddles computer science and molecular biology > (here at Georgia Tech, where I teach, the first bioinformatics degree > program was established in 1999). Currently, bioinformatics mostly means the > use of computer technology to aid in the study of life (that is, new tools > for molecular genetics and biomedicine). Already, over the past decade or > so, numerous companies have formed which specialize in the application of > computer science to solve problems in biotech research. The recent race to > map the human genome is one such example: both the public and private teams > made use of automated genome sequencing computers built by Perkin-Elmer. > Without the aid of specialized software and hardware, research on the human > genome would not have made the progress it claims to have made thus far. > Last year, the investment firm Oscar Gruss & Co. released a study of the > field, suggesting that bioinformatics may generate some $2 billion over the > next five years. As the New York Times put it, the human genome has, for > better or worse, been 3a technology-driven quest.2 > > But is that all that bioinformatics is? In other words, what other kinds of > developments can emerge out of this intersection between computer science > and molecular biology, between computer code and genetic code, between data > and flesh? Could it be that approaches from computing (network theories, > systems theories, parallel processing, a-life) might have something to teach > us about the complexity of the organism? Could such approaches even > transform the way in which molecular genetics and biotech has traditionally > thought of the organism, the body, and biological 3life2? > > [text continued at: > http://www.mikro.org/Events/OS/text/Eugene-Thacker_OSDNA.htm] > > ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ > Eugene Thacker, Assistant Prof > e: eugene.thacker@lcc.gatech.edu > School of Literature, Communication & Culture > Georgia Institute of Technology > ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬ > > # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission > # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, > # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets > # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body > # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net _______________________________________________ Nettime-bold mailing list Nettime-bold@nettime.org http://www.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold