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Life at the Speed of Light summary

Name: Life at the Speed of Light
Rating: 4.3 (33 reviews)
Author: J. Craig Venter

J. Craig Venter

From the Double Helix to the Dawn of Digital Life

4.3 (33 ratings)

22 mins

Brief summary

'Life at the Speed of Light' by J. Craig Venter is a fascinating exploration of the past, present, and future of genomics. Venter shares his groundbreaking research and insights into how we can engineer life at the molecular level.

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Physics

Table of Contents

Life at the Speed of Light
Summary of 10 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 10

What’s in it for me? Get ready for a world of artificially created life forms.

Does the idea of a “Frankenstein” monster freak you out? Or do you shudder at the thought of eating a genetically modified tomato?

If so, then the following blinks may not be for you, as they reveal a whole new world of genetic engineering – the future of science and perhaps even of humanity itself.

You’ll learn about one scientific team’s fascinating quest to create artificial life from scratch. No, we’re not talking about monsters or modified animals; this team, hoping to discover the blueprint for all life on earth, tackled the intricate task of decoding DNA itself.

Reading these blinks, you’ll also discover

how you can leave a personal note on a string of DNA;
why a scientist would want to synthesize a nasty virus; and
how in the near future we might be teleporting medicine to Mars.

Modern biology is based on a new understanding of what life is and what makes it “run.”

The study of biology asks one profound, powerful question: “What is life?”

In fact, it was exactly this profound question that led physicist Erwin Schrödinger to hold a series of groundbreaking lectures that provoked not just the gathered scientific minds but also a veritable revolution in science as well.

How did he achieve this? Schrödinger in essence presented a new way of interpreting biological life. (Schrödinger, a Nobel laureate, is also notable for his pioneering work in quantum physics.)

In 1944, Schrödinger published What is Life?, a book based on his lectures. In it, he examines what exactly makes humans “tick” – and essentially set the stage for modern genetics research.

Schrödinger was one of the first thinkers to suggest that everything that happens in a cell can be explained solely through physical and chemical processes.

Importantly, Schrödinger’s ideas inspired scientists James Watson and Francis Crick in their own work, which led to the discovery of what we now know as the genetic code for human life.

In 1953, Watson and Crick took a closer look at DNA and discovered its now well-known double-helix form. They also identified DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) as the crucial carrier of the code that determines an organism's genetic information.

These men also discovered how DNA reproduces and passes its information from generation to generation, work that earned them a Nobel Prize in 1962. Before their efforts, it was commonly believed that proteins – and not DNA – were the carriers of genetic information.

Ever since, scientists have worked to further unravel DNA’s many mysteries. And since 1970, when Crick firmly established the process by which genetic information is transmitted via DNA, scientists have worked diligently to deconstruct and comprehend the entire genetic code.

Latent in this work is the assumption that all biological life can be reduced to the cellular level – an echo of Schrödinger’s hypothesis from all those decades ago.

The possibility of producing life artificially has raised both practical and ethical questions.

Since the nineteenth century, the scientific community has debated the concept of artificial life and the potential for its creation.

The debate began in earnest in 1828, when German chemist Friedrich Wöhler challenged the idea that organic and inorganic materials differed in some fundamental way. To show that this notion was false, he chemically synthesized urea, the primary component of urine.

Scientists' discovery of how to manipulate DNA transformed the field of genetics.

Have you ever wondered how DNA – even from different organisms – is combined? You can’t exactly throw genes in a test tube and shake them up, but scientists have come up with a surprisingly straightforward way to slip genetic code into foreign DNA.

Scientists discovered that by using certain proteins, one can essentially “cut” and then “paste” together bits of DNA. These unique proteins, called restriction enzymes, were first discovered in bacteria in the 1960s.

Computer technology enabled faster DNA processing, which aided the search for life’s “secret recipe.”

Reading and sequencing a DNA strand is far from simple, but the ambitions of geneticists were brought closer to reality with each advance in computer technology.

In fact, it was the introduction of automated DNA-sequencing machines that propelled the science of genomics into a whole new phase.

A crucial experiment led to the creation of chemical DNA and paved the way for synthetic life.

The author’s team then embarked on a journey to synthetically produce a complete chromosome, based solely on computer code.

But they first needed to develop some new procedures. Eventually, they discovered a promising method for achieving their goal.

In 2007, the author’s team produced the first synthetic genome of a living organism.

The team achieved an astonishing feat – they’d synthesized a virus, confirming that synthetic DNA could be activated.

But viruses aren’t really “alive,” but are simply genetic information that’s coated in a protein. So would it be possible then to synthesize a much more complicated genome, for example from a “living” bacterium?

The team’s claim to fame is their transplantation of the first synthetic genome into another cell.

Despite its wonders, the synthesizing of a living organism’s genome just wasn’t enough for the scientific community.

Skeptics could deride chemically created DNA as merely a synthetic molecule – nothing special. The real test was in proving that the team’s synthetic DNA was actually viable, and to prove this it would have to be put into the body of a cell to become the cell’s new genetic information.

By transplanting synthetic DNA into a cell, the first organism with a computer “parent” was created.

Using the polyethylene glycol method, the team succeeded in their initial transplantation tests. They then prepared for one final sequencing, synthesis and transplantation of the M. mycoides genome.

However, things didn’t go as planned. With DNA sequencing, even the smallest errors can be fatal.

The public met the first synthetic organism with both cheers and jeers.

The author’s goal in creating the first instance of synthetic life was to prove that DNA is the software and basis for all life. In other words, he wanted to put to rest all arguments for vitalism.

However, getting people to agree on what constitutes “life” is no easy task.

Teleportation isn’t just for Star Trek; soon we’ll send DNA code from planet to planet.

You are one of the first colonists on Mars. Yet the machine that regulates your shelter’s atmospheric pressure springs a leak, exposing you to an alien germ. You need an antibiotic, but only a lab on earth can help you. So what are your options?

Sure, there are no Mars colonies – yet. But earth-based scientists are already thinking about situations like these and coming up with solutions for the challenges of a life among the stars.

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What is Life at the Speed of Light about?

Life at the Speed of Light (2013) chronicles the pioneering work of the author and his team in creating the world’s first synthetic life form. You’ll experience the thrill of discovery as you follow the team’s groundbreaking work in synthesizing the world’s first genome and exploring the teleportation of living organisms.

Best quote from Life at the Speed of Light

DNA is the software of life.

—J. Craig Venter

Who should read Life at the Speed of Light?

People interested in cutting-edge science and technology
Scientists from any field

About the Author

Craig Venter is a world-famous biochemist and geneticist. Author of his own autobiography, A Life Decoded, Venter has also been included twice on the “TIME 100,” a list of the world’s most influential people as chosen by Time magazine editors.

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