This week’s Question: As part of a five-year, $1.58 million research project named AudACiOus, a group of University of Nottingham scientists will attempt to program the genetic components of a cell to perform any desired function, without requiring extensive modification to the cell. If successful, the team would develop a cell’s equivalent of a computer operating system, which could be re-programmed with different “applications” and serve as an easier method for creating new life forms. Researchers say the project could lead to the creation of completely new cellular life forms that could do anything from cleaning up pollutants in the environment to detecting and treating viruses before they enter the human body. Although there have been successes in the bioengineering field, the manipulation of cell parts to run a reprogrammable “cellular operating system” remains a laborious and expensive endeavor. Additionally, it is difficult to predict the behavior of cells in a laboratory environment.
What do you think? Will we be able to design an “operating system” for a living biological cell?