The age of genetic information

October 5, 2018

Great advances both in AI and in genetics have opened up a wide scope of hybrid fields and applications, such as DNA data storage and the prospect of precision medicine. The age of information is no longer merely about digital information, but increasingly about two types of information: digital data and genetic data. As genetic data are increasingly valuable in the light of new technologies and applications, questions over privacy and ownership are arising.

Our observations

  • Complex systems like our body and the biological sphere around us are full of data. Our own genome alone amounts to 100GB. Genetic data entails the entire history of life and is a very efficient way of storing data, while digital data storage has only proved to have a limited lifespan. That is why DNA data storage is receiving more attention and new technologies use the four base nucleotides of DNA as digital bits to encode data instead of binary zeroes and ones. Project Lunar Library aims to become the biggest collection of data written in synthetic DNA. Synthetic DNA can serve as very efficient data storage, the founder of the project says: “a tiny liquid droplet (of synthetic DNA) could contain Amazon’s entire data center”.
  • With their users’ consent, companies such as 23andMe, com and MyHeritage are allowed to sell users’ genetic information. Without genetic privacy protections, individuals do not have ownership over their data anymore. As a counteraction, companies are building platforms based on blockchain technology to let individuals control and even profit from their genetic information. A Russian non-profit, Zenome.io, has launched a decentralized “genomic internet”, aiming to deal with the challenges of storage, privacy, and sharing data.
  • As the value of genetic information becomes more apparent in improving healthcare with precision medicine, among other things, countries are trying to complete national genome projects in order to get access to the insights that come from sequencing genetic data. The list of countries with such initiatives include the U.K., Japan, China, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., Estonia, France, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey.
  • Recently, the World Economic Forum published the top 10 emerging technologies of 2018. What marks most of these technologies is that they have resulted from advances in AI and biotechnology: with personalized medicine, it will be possible to analyze genetic data, AI-led molecular design will help identify and develop new medicines, implanted living cells can act like in-body drug factories, genetic engineering technology can permanently change the traits of a population, which is called “gene drive”, plasmonic materials are novel nanomaterials that will allow new applications in biology and medicine, lab-grown meat means that growing biological tissue in the lab is possible, and finally, electroceuticals are small devices in the body that can stimulate nerves.
  • In developed countries, farms producing greens will increasingly change into automated factories controlled by AI. In the first automated farm, Iron Ox, cloud-based AI monitors the whole farm and directs the robots. The next step is for algorithms to teach robots to identify crop diseases.

Connecting the dots

Over the past years, progress has been made in two fields – genetics and artificial intelligence – that now are increasingly intersecting and challenging the ways we look at basic concepts such as information and ownership. In the first field, the completion of the Human Genome Project (HGP) in 2003 was a milestone. This international research aimed at completely mapping and understanding all the genes of human beings. It took over a decade to reach this goal and cost more than a billion dollars. Progress in this field has accelerated to such a level that today, the HGP can be carried out in days and for a fraction of the costs. Gene sequencing is becoming ever-cheaper and genetic information is thus increasingly accessible. Genetic engineering increasingly allows us to reprogram basic building blocks of life, with the latest gene editing tools like CRISPR, for example, to make precise changes in DNA. Furthermore, we are heading towards the era of personalized medicine, in which treatments are tailored to an individual’s genetic composition. In the second field, the domain of AI, we are witnessing the progress made with machine learning. While current machine learning systems are narrow AIs, neural networks show a (limited) degree of generality. As we wrote earlier, innovation at the intersection of the biological and the artificial domain is accelerating. These hybrid fields link biological data with computer science, as in synthetic biology and bioinformatics, and raise questions about information and ownership.

In the digital age, information is predominantly looked at as the digital binary code of zeroes and ones. Code and algorithms are man-made and thus subject to ownership. While we give away our personal data with relative ease by leaving a digital footprint on the internet, the algorithms based on these data are controlled by a concentrated number of parties. However, the merge of biology and technology further

begs the question of ownership. Traditionally, patents have applied solely to inventions, granted as rewards for human innovation and discovery. Genetic code used to be exempt from such laws. In the 80s, this changed, as the American scientist Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty applied to patent a bacterium that he had modified genetically so that it could consume oil. Chakrabarty’s application was at first rejected because his “innovation” concerned a product of nature. Only later, the Supreme Court ruled that it was Chakrabarty’s inventiveness that added value to the bacterium and granted him the first-ever patent granted to a life-form. Ever since, genes considered to have been “isolated from their natural state and purified” have been eligible for patent protection, resulting in the entire human genome being nearly fully covered by patents. Doing research on a patented gene means paying for a license. The rise of genetics and the broadening field of applications, such as DNA data storage, genetic data for precision medicine, and AI-controlled processes to produce biological products, urge us as individuals but also as countries and regions to think about ownership and access to genetic information. While the U.S. and China have labelled biotech a priority for national security, investing heavily in research and development, Europe has adopted a more careful approach to biotechnology applications and is lagging behind in the biotechnology race. Meanwhile, decentralized alternatives to patenting life are on the rise. As the WEF top ten emerging technologies shows, the increased capacity to combine the developments in the field of digital information and genetic information leads to new possibilities in many domains, and this will only accelerate in the future.

Implications

  • In the future, AI will be increasingly applied to discover patterns in genetic data. For instance, genetic puzzles that are now modeled as games to be solved, such as Fold It, will increasingly be solvable by AI. This could lead us to not only learn more about diseases, but possibly about behavior and mental processes as well.
  • As we have written before, the combination of digital code and the biological code heralds a symbiosis between organisms, our bodies, our products and even our buildings. Rather than creating inventions assembled from parts, MIT professor and biodesigner Neri Oxman says that in the coming “biological age, designers are empowered to dream up new, dynamic possibilities, where products and structures can grow, heal and adapt”.

Series 'AI Metaphors'

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1. The tool
Category: the object
Humans shape tools.

We make them part of our body while we melt their essence with our intentions. They require some finesse to use but they never fool us or trick us. Humans use tools, tools never use humans.

We are the masters determining their course, integrating them gracefully into the minutiae of our everyday lives. Immovable and unyielding, they remain reliant on our guidance, devoid of desire and intent, they remain exactly where we leave them, their functionality unchanging over time.

We retain the ultimate authority, able to discard them at will or, in today's context, simply power them down. Though they may occasionally foster irritation, largely they stand steadfast, loyal allies in our daily toils.

Thus we place our faith in tools, acknowledging that they are mere reflections of our own capabilities. In them, there is no entity to venerate or fault but ourselves, for they are but inert extensions of our own being, inanimate and steadfast, awaiting our command.
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2. The machine
Category: the object
Unlike a mere tool, the machine does not need the guidance of our hand, operating autonomously through its intricate network of gears and wheels. It achieves feats of motion that surpass the wildest human imaginations, harboring a power reminiscent of a cavalry of horses. Though it demands maintenance to replace broken parts and fix malfunctions, it mostly acts independently, allowing us to retreat and become mere observers to its diligent performance. We interact with it through buttons and handles, guiding its operations with minor adjustments and feedback as it works tirelessly. Embodying relentless purpose, laboring in a cycle of infinite repetition, the machine is a testament to human ingenuity manifested in metal and motion.
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3. The robot
Category: the object
There it stands, propelled by artificial limbs, boasting a torso, a pair of arms, and a lustrous metallic head. It approaches with a deliberate pace, the LED bulbs that mimic eyes fixating on me, inquiring gently if there lies any task within its capacity that it may undertake on my behalf. Whether to rid my living space of dust or to fetch me a chilled beverage, this never complaining attendant stands ready, devoid of grievances and ever-willing to assist. Its presence offers a reservoir of possibilities; a font of information to quell my curiosities, a silent companion in moments of solitude, embodying a spectrum of roles — confidant, servant, companion, and perhaps even a paramour. The modern robot, it seems, transcends categorizations, embracing a myriad of identities in its service to the contemporary individual.
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4. Intelligence
Category: the object
We sit together in a quiet interrogation room. My questions, varied and abundant, flow ceaselessly, weaving from abstract math problems to concrete realities of daily life, a labyrinthine inquiry designed to outsmart the ‘thing’ before me. Yet, with each probe, it responds with humanlike insight, echoing empathy and kindred spirit in its words. As the dialogue deepens, my approach softens, reverence replacing casual engagement as I ponder the appropriate pronoun for this ‘entity’ that seems to transcend its mechanical origin. It is then, in this delicate interplay of exchanging words, that an unprecedented connection takes root that stirs an intense doubt on my side, am I truly having a dia-logos? Do I encounter intelligence in front of me?
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5. The medium
Category: the object
When we cross a landscape by train and look outside, our gaze involuntarily sweeps across the scenery, unable to anchor on any fixed point. Our expression looks dull, and we might appear glassy-eyed, as if our eyes have lost their function. Time passes by. Then our attention diverts to the mobile in hand, and suddenly our eyes light up, energized by the visual cues of short videos, while our thumbs navigate us through the stream of content. The daze transforms, bringing a heady rush of excitement with every swipe, pulling us from a state of meditative trance to a state of eager consumption. But this flow is pierced by the sudden ring of a call, snapping us again to a different kind of focus. We plug in our earbuds, intermittently shutting our eyes, as we withdraw further from the immediate physical space, venturing into a digital auditory world. Moments pass in immersed conversation before we resurface, hanging up and rediscovering the room we've left behind. In this cycle of transitory focus, it is evident that the medium, indeed, is the message.
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6. The artisan
Category: the human
The razor-sharp knife rests effortlessly in one hand, while the other orchestrates with poised assurance, steering clear of the unforgiving edge. The chef moves with liquid grace, with fluid and swift movements the ingredients yield to his expertise. Each gesture flows into the next, guided by intuition honed through countless repetitions. He knows what is necessary, how the ingredients will respond to his hand and which path to follow, but the process is never exactly the same, no dish is ever truly identical. While his technique is impeccable, minute variation and the pursuit of perfection are always in play. Here, in the subtle play of steel and flesh, a master chef crafts not just a dish, but art. We're witnessing an artisan at work.
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About the author(s)

Researcher Julia Rijssenbeek focuses on our relationship to nature, sustainable and technological transitions in the food system, and the geopolitics of our global food sytems. She is currently working on her PhD in philosophy of technology at Wageningen University, investigating how synthetic biology might alter philosophical ideas about nature and the values we hold, as well as what a bio-based future may bring.

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