Biopunk
DIY Scientists Hack the Software of Life
By: Marcus Wohlsen
Published: April 14, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN-10: 1617230022
ISBN-13: 978-1617230028
Publisher: Current/Penguin
"The most disruptive force on the planet resides in DNA", writes Associated Press journalist Marcus Wohlsen, in his thought provoking and well balanced book Biopunk: DIY Scientists Hack the Software of Life. The author describes both the myriad of benefits and potential risks, of do it yourself science, in an engaging and informative way that pulls back the curtain on the DNA hackers who are creating an underground scientific revolution.
Marcus Wohlsen recognizes that an entire community of do it yourself scientists, who share many characteristics with computer hackers, is conducting leading edge research outside of academia and mainstream science. These amateur scientists present a revolutionary challenge to the scientific community. The DIY researchers, whose main resources are their unlimited energy and enthusiasm, are very often producing groundbreaking scientific and medical breakthroughs. Whether its kitchen table based entrepreneurs developing solutions to the most pressing medical problems, or farmers rewriting the rules of genetically modified seeds, the result is nothing less than a democratization of science.
Marcus Wohlsen (photo left) understands that just as the internet removed the gatekeepers from media, business, and information creation, these DNA hackers are pushing the boundaries of science from the laboratories into the garages and tabletops. This removal of barriers to entry into the world of scientific research makes available potentially life saving options to the poor of the world. This open sourcing of DNA is, for the DIY researchers, similar to the open source movement in computer coding and software. Along with the benefits resulting from these backroom discoveries are the potential hazards that can result from DIY scientists who don't have the best interests of humanity at heart. From the risk of DNA tampering to biological terrorism, there is also a dark side to open source science. These risks also exist in the computer and internet realms, according to Marcus Wohlsen, and can be managed with caution and care; or with legislation and law enforcement. The author points out that supporters of the open science movement will defend their right to research and to develop new ideas to their conclusions.
For me, the power of the book is how Marcus Wohlsen presents the story of underground science in a very readable and engaging format. Along with the potential for enormous benefits resulting from these off the grid discoveries, the author also poses the question of security and possible risks to individual and public safety. At the same time, Marcus Wohlsen raises some important societal issues surrounding the democratization of science. Drawing from the opening of the world of computers, and the democratic nature of the internet the advocates of open source science consider their research, and that of others like them, to be legitimate and essential to society. The author shares success stories of businesses utilizing the DIY ethos to create and market bold new products that were outside of the realm of traditional research.
Marcus Wohlsen pints to how this dawn of the bio-hacking movement and citizen science brings with it the promise of important discoveries. The author offers the idea that traditional science has made its fair share of mistakes, and even been the cause of human and ecological disasters. The home made approach to science will very likely experience its own missteps and grave mistakes as well. With the tools of science becoming readily available, the genie of do it yourself research and biotechnology discovery is already out of the bottle. The future of home grown science promises to be very exciting and breakthroughs, imagined only by the researchers themselves, will appear sooner than anyone expects. The challenges and opportunities presented by DIY science are many, but the entrepreneurial and scientific potential are enormous.
I highly recommend the fascinating and eye opening book Biopunk: DIY Scientists Hack the Software of Life by Marcus Wohlsen, to anyone seeking fresh insights into the largely unknown, but very revolutionary world of home based science. Whether you support the open source science concept, or consider it to be a risk that should be avoided, this book provides a realistic and open minded approach to the subject from both directions.
Read the rapid fire and intriguing book Biopunk: DIY Scientists Hack the Software of Life by Marcus Wohlsen, and discover how biopunk scientists are returning to the roots of scientific research and making some cutting edge discoveries in the process. This book is about not only the current DIY movement, but about the future of science as well.
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