0:00:08 > 0:00:10Over billions of years,
0:00:10 > 0:00:14the natural world has evolved exquisite beauty and complexity.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20But just recently, we've started to do something remarkable.
0:00:20 > 0:00:25We've found a way to take life and radically re-design it.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31We have put ourselves in this extraordinary position,
0:00:31 > 0:00:36where nature itself can be disassembled into spare parts.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40And now we can put them back together, just as we please.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46Incredible as it sounds, life itself has become a programmable machine.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56These new machines aren't mechanical or electrical, but biological.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01And they're starting to change our world.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05I'm Dr Adam Rutherford
0:01:05 > 0:01:09and I want to explore what we're able to do with this new power.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17So what you're telling me is that somewhere on this farm
0:01:17 > 0:01:21there is an animal which is part spider, part something else?
0:01:25 > 0:01:30This new science can be as unsettling as it is intriguing.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33We're in the matrix here, aren't we?
0:01:34 > 0:01:37We're granting ourselves unprecedented control
0:01:37 > 0:01:40over living things. That is a high-stakes game
0:01:40 > 0:01:44and with it comes a question - can this power be abused?
0:01:53 > 0:01:57'KSL News Radio, and this is Utah's morning news,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59- 'I'm Grant Nielson... - ..And I'm Amanda Dickson.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02'Right now, down town it's cloudy, 60 degrees,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06'a roll over blocking traffic on I-80...'
0:02:09 > 0:02:12Logan County, Utah.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Heartland America.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20Where farming is a way of life.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24Now I've come here to see something
0:02:24 > 0:02:27which I think is truly, truly extraordinary.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30This may look like a fairly typical farm -
0:02:30 > 0:02:33there's grain over there, there are horses and cows and sheep -
0:02:33 > 0:02:36and it certainly smells like a real farm,
0:02:36 > 0:02:41but there's one animal here which I think shouldn't really exist.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52This isn't your usual farm. It's part of Utah State University.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Professor Randy Lewis is working on a project that shows
0:02:58 > 0:03:02if you combine the principles of farming with the latest science,
0:03:02 > 0:03:05you quickly find yourself in a very odd place.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12It starts with spiders.
0:03:13 > 0:03:14Randy.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20- So what is it about spiders? - Well, the spider that we have here
0:03:20 > 0:03:22is called an orb-weaver
0:03:22 > 0:03:26and she makes six different kinds of silk and the silk we're interested in
0:03:26 > 0:03:30is called drag-line silk, they catch themselves with it when they fall.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35It's actually stronger than Kevlar. So it really has some amazing properties for any kind of a fibre.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40So you've got this amazing property of silk which, I mean,
0:03:40 > 0:03:42it's stronger than anything we can make ourselves?
0:03:42 > 0:03:43Correct, correct.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47So that's an attractive material that we want to get some of.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49That's right, we want to make a lot of it.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52So we're on a farm here, why don't you just farm the spiders?
0:03:52 > 0:03:55They're very cannibalistic so they'll basically kill each other
0:03:55 > 0:03:58till everybody has enough room to do it.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00So basically spiders are un-farmable.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03- Spiders are absolutely un-farmable. - Can we get her out?- Sure.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15Ah, she's so... She's beautiful, look at that.
0:04:15 > 0:04:21Why would anyone be afraid of that? I just think she's gorgeous.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25My hands are actually getting bound in silk as she runs round them,
0:04:25 > 0:04:28- I'll be cocooned soon.- And that's why they call it drag-line.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32I mean, she leaves it there the entire time.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36We've spent a very long time trying to figure out a way to produce lots of silk
0:04:36 > 0:04:39and the only way we've got it is that we have to take the spider silk gene
0:04:39 > 0:04:41and transfer it to an animal
0:04:41 > 0:04:43that can produce large quantities of the silk.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48So what you're telling me is that, somewhere on this farm,
0:04:48 > 0:04:53there is an animal which is part spider and part something else.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57There are and they will produce large amounts of spider silk
0:04:57 > 0:04:59protein for us to turn into fibres.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01I think you need to show me that.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16- These? Goats? - These are our goats.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21- So they're just regular goats. - They're absolutely regular goats.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Except they're not, they're totally incredible goats.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29So, over here, we have the kids that were born this year
0:05:29 > 0:05:31and the older goats are all on that side.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34- And these are your spider goats. - These are the spider goats.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43And they're eating my top.
0:05:43 > 0:05:49Hey, come on. OK, hey, hey! Behave! Just cos you're on camera.
0:05:49 > 0:05:56And so these kids have the genes for a spider in them.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58- Yeah.- This is, it's insane.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02And where does the spider silk actually come from?
0:06:02 > 0:06:03I mean, where do you get it?
0:06:03 > 0:06:05It was designed so it comes in the milk.
0:06:05 > 0:06:11They look like such normal goats but in fact they're totally unique
0:06:11 > 0:06:13and bizarre. I mean, this is bizarre.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15I guess I would not say it's bizarre.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19I think that it's certainly different but, you know,
0:06:19 > 0:06:24they're absolutely normal, I don't think there's anything different about them.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Hey, Freckles. Come here.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30- "Freckles"?- Come over here. Right, so we have names for all the goats.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34She's actually one of the very original goats that was created.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37Can we actually milk them now?
0:06:37 > 0:06:41Yeah, we can, the two that are standing right here, 57 and 59
0:06:41 > 0:06:46who are Pudding and Sweetie. We can milk those and you can see the milk.
0:06:46 > 0:06:48- Pudding and Sweetie. - Pudding and Sweetie.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51- Freckles, Pudding and Sweetie the spider goats.- Yes.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55- Just a totally regular farm(!) - That's right, that's right.
0:06:55 > 0:06:56Come on.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Ah, so well behaved as well!
0:07:01 > 0:07:04That's right, that's right, they know. Get that out of the way.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06There you go, there you go.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11So the pumps just go on like that?
0:07:12 > 0:07:14That's all there is to it.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Oh, you can see it. You can actually see it coming out.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20Yep, you can see milk coming out.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23So this is exactly the same as any normal goat milking process.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26Absolutely, absolutely. Do exactly the same.
0:07:29 > 0:07:35All right, so she's about done and we can disconnect this.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39We can now get this open and you can take a look and see.
0:07:39 > 0:07:44- Well, just looks like normal milk. - Looks like absolutely normal milk.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48If you do an analysis of it and look at all the components of the milk,
0:07:48 > 0:07:52the only thing you'll find is different is one extra protein and that's the spider silk protein.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55All the rest looks like normal goats milk.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57You make it sound all really matter-of-fact.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59I mean, we've just milked a goat,
0:07:59 > 0:08:01we're on a farm, it's all rather mundane but, I mean,
0:08:01 > 0:08:03this is really cutting-edge science isn't it?
0:08:03 > 0:08:08It's much more difficult than it certainly sounds like.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Once you get the embryo, the gene into the embryo
0:08:11 > 0:08:12then it really is farming.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15So you take the gene from a spider
0:08:15 > 0:08:17and then you put it in the goat
0:08:17 > 0:08:19but that's not what's in here is it?
0:08:19 > 0:08:23- There's no, there are no genes in here.- No, it's the protein
0:08:23 > 0:08:26and spider silk is made out of proteins
0:08:26 > 0:08:29same as your hair, same as your skin,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32same as all the proteins in your body that digest your food,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35that carry oxygen around from your lungs,
0:08:35 > 0:08:39- it's exactly the same kind of a protein.- And the gene itself
0:08:39 > 0:08:42- is the code to make that protein. - Exactly, we take the gene
0:08:42 > 0:08:46and that gives in this case the goat instructions to say, "Make spider silk protein,"
0:08:46 > 0:08:50and they produce it only when they're lactating.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55Well, I'm still not entirely convinced, it looks a lot like normal milk to me,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58so can you show actually how to get the silk out?
0:08:58 > 0:09:03- Sure. We'll take it back to the lab and we'll purify the protein and then we'll spin some fibres.- OK.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14The milk is filtered to remove the fats
0:09:14 > 0:09:17and leave only the proteins.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27A2nd from this purified protein comes the silk.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35Mimicking the spider's behaviour in nature, the silk is pulled out.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40And then it can be simply laced onto a spool.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48It's incredible, it just looks like spider silk. It's exactly the same.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50It looks very much the same.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56- So this is one continuous thread. - And then we wrap it up on a reel.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01I can't quite believe that you can make something
0:10:01 > 0:10:03that's taken millions of years to evolve,
0:10:03 > 0:10:08you can just make it and put it on a roll and we can just pass it between each other.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11- And even more, we started with the goats.- But it's not just for fun, though, is it?
0:10:11 > 0:10:16No, there are a lot of applications that we think of, especially in the medical field.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18We already know we can produce spider silk
0:10:18 > 0:10:21that's good enough to be used in both tendon and ligament repair.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24We already know we can make it strong enough and elastic enough,
0:10:24 > 0:10:27we've done some studies that show it's biocompatible,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30you can put it in the body and you don't get immune response,
0:10:30 > 0:10:35you don't got inflammation, you don't get ill, so we hope within even a couple of years,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39that we're going to be testing to see exactly the best designs
0:10:39 > 0:10:42and the best materials that we make that would be used for that.
0:10:42 > 0:10:47Spider silk, made from a goat, implanted into humans.
0:10:47 > 0:10:48Exactly.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50HE LAUGHS
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Now, I don't know what these animals think about being spider goats
0:11:02 > 0:11:05or whether they've got any idea at all,
0:11:05 > 0:11:09but we've been farming goats for thousands of years now
0:11:09 > 0:11:14to make them bigger and stronger and to produce more milk.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17And in the space of just one generation, a few years,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20these animals have been created
0:11:20 > 0:11:23and they couldn't possibly have existed otherwise.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28And no matter how amazing or unsettling or just plain bizarre
0:11:28 > 0:11:32you think that is, this is just the beginning.
0:11:46 > 0:11:51Transferring a single gene from a spider to a goat is one thing,
0:11:51 > 0:11:55but what if we had power over the entire genetic code of a life form?
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Very recently, we created that power.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04And it's raised key questions about how far we should take it.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11To really get a grip on where this field is at
0:12:11 > 0:12:13we don't have to go back very far.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17In just 2010, a team of scientists created something
0:12:17 > 0:12:23that generated shock and awe in the press but left the rest of the world
0:12:23 > 0:12:26not really quite sure what to make of it all.
0:12:29 > 0:12:34A familiar but powerful term was used to describe it - "Playing God".
0:12:46 > 0:12:48'In an amazing scientific breakthrough,
0:12:48 > 0:12:52'researchers say they've created the first ever synthetic life form.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55'They hope it will create life saving medicine and new forms of energy,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58'but the development is not without controversy.'
0:12:58 > 0:13:02'We're here today to announce the first synthetic cell.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06'The electronics industry only had a dozen or so components
0:13:06 > 0:13:09'and look at the diversity that came out of that.
0:13:09 > 0:13:15'We're limited here primarily by biological reality and our imagination.'
0:13:16 > 0:13:20After 15 years and 40 million of research,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23Dr Craig Venter had created something unique.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31A completely synthetic life form, that was nicknamed Synthia.
0:13:32 > 0:13:34But who or what was Synthia?
0:13:38 > 0:13:41So this it, Synthia, or to give it its proper name,
0:13:41 > 0:13:47Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn 1.0.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51It's the very simplest of bacterial cells. Really not much to look at,
0:13:51 > 0:13:54but what's truly impressive about this
0:13:54 > 0:13:59is the fact that Synthia was not born from another bacteria.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03This is the only life form on Earth whose parent is a computer.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08'By moving the software of DNA around,
0:14:08 > 0:14:11'we can change things dramatically.'
0:14:11 > 0:14:17To make Synthia, Craig Venter took a simple cell.
0:14:29 > 0:14:35And he took all of its DNA code and plugged that into a computer.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39Once the code is in a computer, it's effectively DNA software.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47Next, he extracted the DNA from a similar cell...
0:14:49 > 0:14:54..discarded it and went back to the DNA software he'd created.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57And then came the really clever bit.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Venter synthesised all of that DNA, just like printing it out.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09Now he had a physical version of that DNA software
0:15:09 > 0:15:12ready to be inserted into the empty cell.
0:15:12 > 0:15:17And with a spark, he booted it up, just like powering up a computer.
0:15:17 > 0:15:22Except by any definition, this thing was now a living organism.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28Had Craig Venter created life? Not really.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32But he had recreated it and, in a sense, rebooted it.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37Synthia may have been something quite simple,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40a fairly straightforward bacteria, but, after you've set aside
0:15:40 > 0:15:44all of the hype, the fact remains that Venter had done something
0:15:44 > 0:15:49that has never been achieved in 4 billion years of life on Earth -
0:15:49 > 0:15:53he'd made an organism whose parent was a computer.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55And that, more than anything else,
0:15:55 > 0:16:00demonstrated an unprecedented degree of control over a living thing.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08This blurring of the boundaries between computer code
0:16:08 > 0:16:11and biology has fuelled a whole new field of science.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25With our new-found ability to engineer life,
0:16:25 > 0:16:28we can start to think of organisms as biological machines
0:16:28 > 0:16:31that are under our control.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35And to see where these bold ideas are taking us,
0:16:35 > 0:16:37I've come here, to high-tech America.
0:16:38 > 0:16:43I reckon these are all quite tricky concepts to get your head around -
0:16:43 > 0:16:45things like biological machines,
0:16:45 > 0:16:49or that DNA is like software that you can just print out.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53This approach has a name, and it's synthetic biology.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57Now, even for a biologist this is pretty bewildering stuff
0:16:57 > 0:17:01but that is also exactly why it's so exciting.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07Professor Ron Weiss was one of the founders of synthetic biology,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10there at the beginning of it all, and he started out
0:17:10 > 0:17:13not as a biologist, but a computer scientist.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16So at first I was interested in understanding how we can take
0:17:16 > 0:17:19what we know about biology and apply that to computing.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22And at some point, I decided to flip that around and try to take
0:17:22 > 0:17:25what we understand in computing and apply that to programming biology
0:17:25 > 0:17:30and, to me, that's really the essence of synthetic biology.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33And what do you need to get started?
0:17:33 > 0:17:37Actually, all that we need is available right here in my bag.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41There's one major advantage of having life written in computer code.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45All you have to do to access it is get online.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57It's an approach that's led to a visionary new take on biology.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01We want to think about DNA as parts that we can then glue together
0:18:01 > 0:18:03to make more parts, putting systems together,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07putting maybe circuits together, built out of these DNA parts.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10But where do you get these parts from? They're in our cells.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14Right, but the cool thing is you can actually go online
0:18:14 > 0:18:17and get new DNA parts.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20Let's say for example we want a part that make a blue protein,
0:18:20 > 0:18:23so here's that arrow, you see that arrow right,
0:18:23 > 0:18:25that arrow is a part that tells the cell,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27"Make a protein that creates a blue colour."
0:18:27 > 0:18:31That's what it is, and I can put that into my circuit and those parts -
0:18:31 > 0:18:34we call them biobricks - and so we can take these biobricks
0:18:34 > 0:18:38and actually put them together to assemble, you know, biocircuits.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41You said that very casually.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44You said that like it hasn't been 4 billion years of evolution
0:18:44 > 0:18:47which has got my cells doing what they do.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50Right, they do it quite well, and they have a piece of DNA...
0:18:50 > 0:18:53- QUITE well?!- Quite well. It's not perfect though, right?
0:18:53 > 0:18:56We die on occasion, we get cancer on occasion.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00- And you think you can do it better? - Um, sometimes, perhaps.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03What about actual, useful, real world applications?
0:19:03 > 0:19:06So, what else could you do? So, for example,
0:19:06 > 0:19:11imagine this program, this piece of DNA which goes into the cell
0:19:11 > 0:19:13and it says, "If cancer cell,
0:19:13 > 0:19:17"then make a protein that kills the cancer cell, if not just go away."
0:19:17 > 0:19:22That's another kind of program that we're able to write and implement
0:19:22 > 0:19:25- and test in living cells right now. - You can do that?
0:19:25 > 0:19:29- We have done that. - It's like a targeted assassin.- Yes.
0:19:29 > 0:19:30This works in the lab.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34It doesn't work quite in a clinic yet, that would be the next step.
0:19:34 > 0:19:35That's radical thinking!
0:19:35 > 0:19:38It's radically different from anything that's come before.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42'Ron doesn't even need to be in a lab
0:19:42 > 0:19:45'to put the strands of DNA together to make a biological circuit.'
0:19:45 > 0:19:47We actually have biobricks, pieces of DNA here.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49So let me put them together.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51So I'll take this biobrick and I want say,
0:19:51 > 0:19:55I want to put these two together, so I'm going to open up pieces of DNA,
0:19:55 > 0:19:58I'm going to take some from here...
0:20:00 > 0:20:01..mix it right there, OK?
0:20:01 > 0:20:05We've put two parts together, I'm done with this biobrick.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08I need one last component which is the glue,
0:20:08 > 0:20:11I need to be able to glue them together, so here's my glue.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13I'm going to take that out,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17make sure I have just right amount of glue, I'm going to mix them together
0:20:17 > 0:20:20and then it's done.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23And so, now, in this tube, you've got this circuit,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26you've just built a biological machine...
0:20:26 > 0:20:28That may never have existed before.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32- That we've just done in a cafe in downtown San Francisco. - In a cafe, you and me together.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34A lot of people can now do this.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37We have the information, we have the technology now.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39- Astonishing.- Brave new world.
0:20:41 > 0:20:46Ron's simple demonstration of al fresco biology has shown
0:20:46 > 0:20:49that with a new level of simplicity and accessibility
0:20:49 > 0:20:54you can build biological circuits that programme biological machines.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03The democratic nature of having biological parts,
0:21:03 > 0:21:06or biobricks, readily available online,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10has proved particularly appealing to one group of innovators.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12Students.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15Now, it's not unusual, in university corridors,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18to come across adverts on notice boards
0:21:18 > 0:21:22for things like cocktail societies or sports clubs.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25This one's slightly different and I want to read you a couple of lines.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28"Removal of metal ions from contaminated water."
0:21:28 > 0:21:34How about, "Repair of human tissue using bacteria"?
0:21:34 > 0:21:38Or this one says, "A biofilter for radioactive waste."
0:21:38 > 0:21:40Now, these are not clubs.
0:21:40 > 0:21:45These are entries from universities around the world for IGEM,
0:21:45 > 0:21:49the International Genetically Engineered Machine Contest.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52Basically, they're all ideas for saving the world.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Here at the University of Cambridge the IGEM team leader,
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Cat McMurran, has asked to meet somewhere a little unusual
0:22:01 > 0:22:03to tell me about their entry.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10'The story of this particular biological machine
0:22:10 > 0:22:13'begins at a fish restaurant.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17'And with one particular dish - squid.'
0:22:17 > 0:22:20They're essentially masters of disguise.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23They have fantastic abilities to camouflage themselves
0:22:23 > 0:22:25so when they're hiding from predators
0:22:25 > 0:22:28they can very carefully match the colour
0:22:28 > 0:22:32and kind of even approximate what the texture of background there is.
0:22:32 > 0:22:33What is it about this beast
0:22:33 > 0:22:36that gives it the ability to camouflage itself?
0:22:36 > 0:22:38The really cool bit that inspired us
0:22:38 > 0:22:43is that underneath that layer of skin you can see some shiny cells.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46They're not very clear there, you can see it better in the eye.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49Oh, I see. It looks a bit like tin foil.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51Yeah, it's essentially the same.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53There's some of it leaking out of the eye.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58'The team wanted turn the camouflage system into a new biobrick,
0:22:58 > 0:23:03'so a whole new range of biological machines could use the colour change
0:23:03 > 0:23:05'just like the squid does so effortlessly.'
0:23:05 > 0:23:10This is some images of what the squid cells look like under the microscope.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15- You can really see the coloured patterns of reflectin that are formed.- It's really beautiful.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17It's kind of psychedelic.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21'Reflectin is the protein that makes this spectacle possible.'
0:23:22 > 0:23:25'The team ordered a series of biobricks online
0:23:25 > 0:23:28'and used them to build a biological circuit
0:23:28 > 0:23:32'that could make the same protein that the squid does.'
0:23:32 > 0:23:34- So does it work?- It does and I can prove it.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38So we have the purified reflectin that we made using this circuit,
0:23:38 > 0:23:43and we've taken and spun it onto, well, a little disc of silicon,
0:23:43 > 0:23:47so you can see the iridescent patterns on it as I move it.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51- Looks like a drop of oil. - But what's really cool about it is if you breathe on it.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53- What, just breathe on it? - Yes.- Right.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00Oh, cool! So that's the squid protein reacting to my breath?
0:24:00 > 0:24:05Yeah, it's the humidity in the air you're breathing out that's making the structure of the protein change.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07You're very, very casual about this
0:24:07 > 0:24:11but we've gone from a squid in a restaurant that can change colour,
0:24:11 > 0:24:15even though it was dead, to getting that synthesised in a cell factory
0:24:15 > 0:24:17via the internet, onto a plate
0:24:17 > 0:24:20that can change colour when I breathe on it.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22In a summer, yeah.
0:24:22 > 0:24:23In a summer.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26It's almost annoying, to hear you say that,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29cos the prospect of me doing that
0:24:29 > 0:24:31five years ago, ten years ago in the lab
0:24:31 > 0:24:35would have taken, you know, hundreds of thousands of pounds
0:24:35 > 0:24:41and years, but you can knock that out in a summer.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43It's the beauty of synthetic biology
0:24:43 > 0:24:45is that we don't have to go through...
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Quite a lot of the hard work has been done for us.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52The work we've done this summer has now been put back into the registry
0:24:52 > 0:24:54so all the parts for making biobricks
0:24:54 > 0:24:57are now something that anyone next year,
0:24:57 > 0:24:59or a research lab right now, can e-mail
0:24:59 > 0:25:00and ask for the DNA to be sent out,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03and then they can start working on reflectin
0:25:03 > 0:25:05and that's what's really exciting
0:25:05 > 0:25:07about the open-source ideal,
0:25:07 > 0:25:09is that now it's out there, anyone can use it.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14In a squid, this is a survival mechanism,
0:25:14 > 0:25:18but Cat and her team have succeeded in turning it into a component
0:25:18 > 0:25:21that future scientists can use to do anything they want with.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25They're already thinking about sending
0:25:25 > 0:25:29tools like these into water supplies to detect pollutants
0:25:29 > 0:25:32and then change colour just like the squid does.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39It's an astonishing idea that life can be programmed like a machine
0:25:39 > 0:25:45and that the components can be simply ordered online from a standardised tool kit,
0:25:45 > 0:25:48and this means that engineers and computer scientists
0:25:48 > 0:25:51and mathematicians can come together with biologists.
0:25:51 > 0:25:57This is a totally new way of doing science, and it's happening now.
0:26:02 > 0:26:08You might think that harnessing the full power of synthetic biology was just out of reach.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16Well, that's not the way they see it here in California.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20In a sense, they're taking this idea of playing God
0:26:20 > 0:26:26and turning it into a business, potentially a rather lucrative one.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30This is the other end of synthetic biology.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32However you feel about big corporations,
0:26:32 > 0:26:37they have access to the kind of cash that makes the most exciting science possible.
0:26:41 > 0:26:46This is Amyris, one of the world's biggest synthetic biology operations.
0:26:49 > 0:26:55Their aim is simple - to develop technology that might just change the world.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01And Dr Jack Newman is leading the project here.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05Right, so this looks very familiar to me, molecular biology lab,
0:27:05 > 0:27:09been in a few labs like this where genetics happen. What's going on?
0:27:09 > 0:27:14Well, you see here, it's a lot of dedicated talented folks
0:27:14 > 0:27:18that know a lot about what goes on inside yeast.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20What we're doing is reprogramming that yeast
0:27:20 > 0:27:23to meet the petroleum needs of the world.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28This isn't tinkering with biological circuits,
0:27:28 > 0:27:31this is synthetic biology at full tilt.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33Petroleum fuels our world,
0:27:33 > 0:27:38we have tremendous energy need both in the US, in Europe, in Asia
0:27:38 > 0:27:42and here we're coming up with new solutions for meeting that energy or fuel need.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46- By producing it using cells. - That's right.
0:27:46 > 0:27:51- And you can do that?- Absolutely, that's what I'm going to show you.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59This is synthetic biology on an industrial scale.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05Scientists and robots working together.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09Their aim, to reprogramme old-fashioned brewers' yeast,
0:28:09 > 0:28:15by re-engineering the cell, so that rather than producing alcohol, it now produces diesel.
0:28:15 > 0:28:20What you're doing, in terms of making this biological machine,
0:28:20 > 0:28:25is getting it to do something that nothing in nature has ever done before.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29Not quite nothing, actually, so the molecule farnesene,
0:28:29 > 0:28:34which is the root of our diesel, is actually the same oil that coats the outside of apples.
0:28:34 > 0:28:40It's the oil that nature uses to repel the water off of apples. It also happens to be in diesel fuel.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46Kick-starting this fuel factory couldn't be easier.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49Grab a toothpick, get a little bit of yeast,
0:28:49 > 0:28:54and this is a 96 well plate, which is 96 little fermenters basically filled with sugar water.
0:28:54 > 0:28:59Put some yeast in there, it'll start making that sugar into diesel.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01Give it a shot.
0:29:01 > 0:29:06I remember this sort of laborious work from work from my days in the lab.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10You've got a bunch of toothpicks there, why don't you do the next 100?
0:29:10 > 0:29:12- Um, I'm OK with that, thanks. - Here's another way to do it.
0:29:12 > 0:29:20What you see there is about 10,000 yeast and what the machine has done is image that with the camera,
0:29:20 > 0:29:24it's taken a picture of that, and it knows where every colony is.
0:29:24 > 0:29:30I've done this kind of stuff, it takes about two weeks, and you're saying that this can do...how many?
0:29:30 > 0:29:33Just did 100 in the time it took you to do one.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38The speed is phenomenal!
0:29:38 > 0:29:44The core idea is that oil, which gets made from biological organisms,
0:29:44 > 0:29:49- takes hundreds of thousands of years to produce a barrel...- That's right.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51And this process, using yeast...
0:29:51 > 0:29:53Can take a day.
0:30:00 > 0:30:04All they need is some basic old-school lab equipment,
0:30:04 > 0:30:10and with it, I can see exactly what this new school of science is all about.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17Now, what are we seeing here?
0:30:17 > 0:30:22Here's one where you can see actually the farnesene on the inside,
0:30:22 > 0:30:25see that bright little droplet?
0:30:25 > 0:30:27So they just produce the diesel inside the cell
0:30:27 > 0:30:29and then it just secretes out?
0:30:29 > 0:30:31Just comes out in little droplets
0:30:31 > 0:30:34and those little droplets come together the same way sort of
0:30:34 > 0:30:38when salad dressing is separating, the oil goes to the top.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41So if I pull focus from the bottom upwards then I can see the cells.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45The cells will be on the bottom because they're heavy.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49And if I keep going then, bing, you get the oil.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52Yep, and the oil'll be at the top because it's lighter,
0:30:52 > 0:30:55you know, oil rises to the top.
0:30:55 > 0:30:57Crikey, that's amazing.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01Scale this up, and you're on your way to having an industrial operation.
0:31:01 > 0:31:03This is the pilot plant,
0:31:03 > 0:31:06this is where we take what you saw at that small scale
0:31:06 > 0:31:08and take it up to the next level.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10Wow!
0:31:10 > 0:31:13Inside these tanks, the same process is happening
0:31:13 > 0:31:15that I saw under the microscope,
0:31:15 > 0:31:17except instead of it being on a slide,
0:31:17 > 0:31:20it's in these massive vats.
0:31:22 > 0:31:28And at the end of this production line is the simplest process of all, separation.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41There goes the yeast and the nasty bit...
0:31:41 > 0:31:43here comes the fuel.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46- That's it?- That's diesel. That's diesel right there.
0:31:46 > 0:31:51- That's just waste on that side? - That's yeast and water, diesel on this side.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55Do you think this is going to replace oil out of the ground, fossil fuels?
0:31:55 > 0:31:58- I'll be excited about a billion litres. - A billion litres?- Yeah.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01So how long is it going to be
0:32:01 > 0:32:06before you can scale this already pretty impressive set-up to a billion litres?
0:32:06 > 0:32:09So, we're already manufacturing on three continents,
0:32:09 > 0:32:12we're in South America, North America and Europe,
0:32:12 > 0:32:16and have two more major facilities under construction.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20Er, you know. We're ramping this just absolutely fast as we can.
0:32:29 > 0:32:34There are strict rules preventing synthetic cells from leaving the lab,
0:32:34 > 0:32:37but the things they make, like the fuel, can.
0:32:37 > 0:32:42It is still diesel, though, and still produces CO2 emissions,
0:32:42 > 0:32:46so this car, fuelled by synethic biology,
0:32:46 > 0:32:50is a symbol of the power this technology offers.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53And the questions it raises for all of us.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59Where should we draw the line between what synthetic biology
0:32:59 > 0:33:04might be capable of doing and what we think is safe or desirable?
0:33:05 > 0:33:10The closer you look, the more it appears to be an uneasy bargain.
0:33:26 > 0:33:31Now there's a question we have to address before we go too far.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35Should synthetic biology be allowed out of the lab at all?
0:33:35 > 0:33:37Now this is a legitimate question,
0:33:37 > 0:33:43albeit one fuelled by Hollywood, who imagine that synthetic lifeforms can escape from the lab
0:33:43 > 0:33:47and go down drains and crawl up into your cappuccino,
0:33:47 > 0:33:50but how real is that threat?
0:33:50 > 0:33:55Leading scientists in synthetic biology have called for added measures
0:33:55 > 0:34:00to prevent the accidental release of synthetic organisms into the wild.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03So it seems that there is a contradiction here.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07On the one hand, synthetic lifeforms should be contained within the lab,
0:34:07 > 0:34:14and on the other they should be out in the world, actually doing stuff for our benefit.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21Whether out in the world, or in the lab, the key is that the scientists
0:34:21 > 0:34:23have control over the life-forms they create,
0:34:23 > 0:34:27and the principles behind that are simple.
0:34:29 > 0:34:34Now scientists design synthetic cells, so they have an inbuilt safety mechanism,
0:34:34 > 0:34:39and they get called kill switches, which is slightly overly dramatic.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42But I can show you how they work using just a box of matches.
0:34:43 > 0:34:46In the olden days, matches could be struck on any surface.
0:34:46 > 0:34:51But then safety conscious matchmakers introduced a feature which meant they could only ignite
0:34:51 > 0:34:55in very precisely controlled conditions - that is the side of the box.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59And that is the safety match.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02Now kill switches work in much the same way.
0:35:02 > 0:35:08The synthetic cells can only grow in very precisely controlled conditions.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12On top of that, once they are alive, they have to be continually fed,
0:35:12 > 0:35:16otherwise, just like the flame, they won't survive.
0:35:16 > 0:35:22Pretty foolproof, except safety measures are never 100% effective.
0:35:24 > 0:35:29In the right circumstances, even a safety match will still ignite.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34We know life does tend to find a way.
0:35:38 > 0:35:43Synthetic biology is about creating and manipulating lifeforms.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46Things that grow, feed and reproduce.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53This is a high stakes game.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57Scientists can have control, but there is always a level of risk.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20Jim Thomas works for a watchdog called Etcetera.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25Having called for a ban on synthetic biology in its very early days,
0:36:25 > 0:36:29the group have evolved their views, along with the technology.
0:36:30 > 0:36:37So if you initial concern was the release of synthetic organisms into the wild,
0:36:37 > 0:36:40how has that changed over the years, as the technology has developed?
0:36:40 > 0:36:44Well, we're still very concerned about the release of synthetic organisms.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46We still think that's a no-no.
0:36:46 > 0:36:51But what's become clearer to us is that the bigger issues around synthetic biology
0:36:51 > 0:36:55are how it's turning into an industry, and what industry is doing with that technology.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59Because the synthetic organisms that are going to be used have to eat something.
0:36:59 > 0:37:04What they have to eat is sugar - biomass. It's this stuff, it's the living world,
0:37:04 > 0:37:10And you have an industry whose basic approach is to take living biomass,
0:37:10 > 0:37:14liquidate it, feed it to synthetic organisms in order to create the plastics
0:37:14 > 0:37:17and the fuels that previously were made from petroleum,
0:37:17 > 0:37:21and as an industrial model that's a terrible industrial model.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26Living things become part of these biological machines,
0:37:26 > 0:37:29not just as components in the circuit, but as a feedstock.
0:37:31 > 0:37:36Large companies are buying up bits of land so that they can grow sugarcane or eucaplypus,
0:37:36 > 0:37:43so that they can feed those to vats of what will ultimately be synthetic microbes to make fuels.
0:37:43 > 0:37:48As the global population soars, Jim's concern is that feeding these synthetic lifeforms
0:37:48 > 0:37:55could ultimately threaten the livelihood of some of the poorest people in the world.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08Synthetic biology has become a technological force,
0:38:08 > 0:38:13and questions about how it should used and controlled are unavoidable.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19But there's a darker side to consider.
0:38:19 > 0:38:24What if this technology was used to intentionally do harm?
0:38:24 > 0:38:25Through bio-terrorism.
0:38:33 > 0:38:34Sunnyvale.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39California.
0:38:44 > 0:38:48A residential street, like so many others across America.
0:38:53 > 0:38:58Dr Rob Carlson is an advisor to the UN and FBI,
0:38:58 > 0:39:04and they ask his advice on the threats that could come from this field.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08He knows his way around the subculture of synthetic biology.
0:39:12 > 0:39:17He's brought me here, to introduce me to some people he knows.
0:39:22 > 0:39:29Rob, we are a long way from high-tech labs and universities. What are we doing here?
0:39:29 > 0:39:33Well, biotechnology has become less expensive and more accessible over the last 20 years,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36especially in the last 10 years.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40You can set up a lab in a kitchen or a garage or a store front anywhere around here.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43So you're saying that in some garage over there, in the middle of suburbia,
0:39:43 > 0:39:46some kid could be doing real synthetic biology.
0:39:46 > 0:39:47In principle yeah.
0:39:47 > 0:39:52I've seen that scientists can order parts they want, wherever they can get online.
0:39:52 > 0:39:57So what would be available to someone who wanted to do harm?
0:39:57 > 0:40:01So there are many parts in the registry. You can use them for making many different things.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03Making biofuels, making vaccines.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07There are some parts in here that look like they might have nefarious use,
0:40:07 > 0:40:11so there are some viral vectors that could be used to infect human cells with some things.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14They're very difficult to use.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18They're more of an art than a bit of technology that anybody can make use of.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22Now I'm going to push you on this, because you say the parts are individually innocuous,
0:40:22 > 0:40:29but if I wanted to build a nailbomb, I could go to any hardware store and get all of the ingredients.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32Individually, they're not for making a bomb, but you put them together in the right way
0:40:32 > 0:40:34and you've got something lethal.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37Surely you could say the same thing about the parts?
0:40:37 > 0:40:41There aren't any parts in the biobrick registry that I'm aware of that can be used to cause any harm.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45But a nail is for putting pieces of wood together, it's not for killing people.
0:40:45 > 0:40:50I understand that, but there aren't any pieces that look even like a nail in the biobricks registry,
0:40:50 > 0:40:54which is not to say that you can't make those parts, it's just they're not in the registry.
0:40:54 > 0:40:58Over time we'll have many more parts that become available that are so useful,
0:40:58 > 0:41:01but I think you've brought up an interesting point,
0:41:01 > 0:41:04which is given the difficulty in building anything nefarious,
0:41:04 > 0:41:07using biological parts right now, in this way we're discussing,
0:41:07 > 0:41:10it's a lot easier to just go build a nailbomb if you want to cause a problem.
0:41:10 > 0:41:16It's easier to fixate on the threat than it is to embrace the opportunity from these new technologies.
0:41:16 > 0:41:21Those opportunities are all around us. We can go and have a look just a couple of blocks away.
0:41:32 > 0:41:37So the idea here is you pay a monthly fee, just like you're going to a gym,
0:41:37 > 0:41:39and instead you're doing biology here.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46This is DIY biology.
0:41:46 > 0:41:51And it's already become a movement, known as Biohacking.
0:41:58 > 0:42:00This is really cool.
0:42:01 > 0:42:06Really interesting this. It's like a very community-based project,
0:42:06 > 0:42:09but they're doing real experimental science,
0:42:09 > 0:42:13and the strangest thing about it is, even though there are school-age kids here,
0:42:13 > 0:42:18if you just look on the shelves, this is standard lab equipment,
0:42:18 > 0:42:21expensive equipment that you'd see in any hospital lab
0:42:21 > 0:42:26or university lab, and it's just here in this community centre.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31This is unusual. I've not seen this before.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41So some of these guys call themselves biohackers,
0:42:41 > 0:42:43which is quite a cool name but it also has a real,
0:42:43 > 0:42:48quite a negative connotation about it. How does that work?
0:42:48 > 0:42:51That depends on who you're talking to. They don't think it's negative.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54There are hackers taking things apart, putting them back together,
0:42:54 > 0:42:57whether it's computers or cars or boats.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59Hacking is part of the way new stuff gets built.
0:42:59 > 0:43:01Hacking is part of innovation.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07We piloted a class this last month
0:43:07 > 0:43:12where we took an E. coli bacteria and we brought in green fluorescent protein,
0:43:12 > 0:43:14so it basically glows in the dark.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17It's a protein from jellyfish.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20- Can you show me that?- You bet.
0:43:27 > 0:43:35Seeing such a powerful science in here does throw the biologist in me a bit off balance.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39What this is is a bacteria, a naturally occurring bacteria,
0:43:39 > 0:43:45that some kid in this garage space has put a gene from a jellyfish in.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49And the jellyfish kind of has a superpower of being fluorescent.
0:43:49 > 0:43:51It glows in the dark basically.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54So we borrowed that one piece and stuck in into this bacteria
0:43:54 > 0:43:57that we can grow a lot easier than we can grow a jellyfish.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01So I've done this a few years ago in the lab,
0:44:01 > 0:44:05but you've done this in a garage... Who did this?
0:44:05 > 0:44:07Rank amateurs, people who'd never picked up pipettes before,
0:44:07 > 0:44:09we trained them in about an hour.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12It wasn't a big deal, a lot of the things we got off the internet,
0:44:12 > 0:44:15a lot of things came together really easily for amateurs.
0:44:15 > 0:44:20That represents how the game has changed so significantly
0:44:20 > 0:44:23in way less than a decade.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26I mean, how long would that have taken five years ago?
0:44:26 > 0:44:29That is a game-changer, I think.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33In 2008, three scientists won a Nobel prize for doing this
0:44:33 > 0:44:36and now anyone can do it in a garage.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40You ain't seen nothin' yet.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43So, what comes next? What's the ambition?
0:44:43 > 0:44:45Well, like, I can see the day
0:44:45 > 0:44:49whenever people are growing plastics, medicine...
0:44:49 > 0:44:53You know, I think the future looks a lot less like
0:44:53 > 0:44:56a big refinery stack and a lot more like a big brewing vat.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01You know what it reminds me of? The legend of Microsoft,
0:45:01 > 0:45:04that it started in Bill Gates' garage
0:45:04 > 0:45:07where they were building computers from scratch in a garage
0:45:07 > 0:45:11and now it is this, you know, global, enormous corporation.
0:45:12 > 0:45:16Rather than being a backdrop for dark, scientific arts,
0:45:16 > 0:45:22suburbia is clearly a place where synthetic biology can flourish.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25So, from what I've seen, whether it's driven by universities,
0:45:25 > 0:45:28large corporations or even bio-hackers,
0:45:28 > 0:45:32it's clear this technology has breathtaking potential.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40The innovation offered up by this science
0:45:40 > 0:45:42is about to take us across another boundary
0:45:42 > 0:45:43Hi, how are you?
0:45:43 > 0:45:48Not just taking synthetic biology out into the world
0:45:48 > 0:45:51but putting it inside people.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54Attempting the impossible is what scientists
0:45:54 > 0:45:57at the NASA Ames research facility are pretty good at.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59Do you get blase about working here?
0:45:59 > 0:46:02This is a lifelong childhood dream of mine.
0:46:02 > 0:46:06I will come to work sometimes and I have to pinch myself.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14Dr David Loftus is a medic to the astronauts.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20He's a man with a rather unique commute into the office.
0:46:20 > 0:46:21What is that?
0:46:21 > 0:46:26That is the air intake for the world's largest wind tunnel
0:46:26 > 0:46:31it's just a fantastic structure. It's just huge.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34- You can put an actual, full-sized aircraft inside.- Wow.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41David is not just planning to put synthetic biology into outer space,
0:46:41 > 0:46:45but into astronauts, to help them deal with something
0:46:45 > 0:46:48that Californians often take for granted.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51The sun.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54We've got some UV radiation to deal with,
0:46:54 > 0:46:57here in our convertible, from the sun,
0:46:57 > 0:47:01but in space you've got particle radiation and high-energy radiation
0:47:01 > 0:47:04that can really be quite damaging
0:47:04 > 0:47:06and potentially fatal to the astronauts.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09What's synthetic biology going to... How is that going to help?
0:47:09 > 0:47:12We've come up with a technology that's pretty nifty
0:47:12 > 0:47:16that allows us to engineer organisms and cells,
0:47:16 > 0:47:19to make therapeutic molecules
0:47:19 > 0:47:22that can be directly released into the body.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25You're going to take engineered bacteria
0:47:25 > 0:47:29and put them into astronauts to treat them for radiation sickness?
0:47:29 > 0:47:30It seems pretty far-fetched
0:47:30 > 0:47:33but that's exactly what we've been thinking about.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45Putting synthetic biology inside people
0:47:45 > 0:47:49has never been done before. It's unknown territory.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53The key is locking the engineered bacteria away
0:47:53 > 0:47:55and safely containing them.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00And to do that, NASA is using nanotechnology
0:48:00 > 0:48:02to make something truly remarkable.
0:48:03 > 0:48:05A biocapsule.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13- This is just a normal syringe needle...- A normal syringe needle.
0:48:13 > 0:48:15..and on the top, this is a mould...
0:48:15 > 0:48:19Exactly, it's a plastic mould that's porous.
0:48:19 > 0:48:21And needle goes in this liquid?
0:48:21 > 0:48:23Exactly, you just plunge it right in.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25- Turn the vacuum on...- All right.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29..and you should see things happening almost right away.
0:48:29 > 0:48:34Carbon nanotubes suspended in the liquid are drawn onto the mould.
0:48:34 > 0:48:36Ha, look at that it's instantaneous!
0:48:36 > 0:48:39The result? A biocapsule.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41It's gone black.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49Turn the vacuum off and you can pull it out of the solution.
0:48:49 > 0:48:51Well, that was not very hard.
0:48:51 > 0:48:53And let it dry, it's very quick,
0:48:53 > 0:48:56and you can just take it off of the tubing
0:48:56 > 0:48:58and there's the capsule.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00That's it, I've just made a biocapsule.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03You've just made a biocapsule.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07It may not look like much, but the genius of this biocapsule
0:49:07 > 0:49:10comes by way of the tiny molecules that make up its structure,
0:49:10 > 0:49:13a substance that the body won't reject.
0:49:13 > 0:49:15Carbon nanotubes.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18if we zoom in at higher power,
0:49:18 > 0:49:21- we start to appreciate the pores of this structure.- Wow!
0:49:21 > 0:49:24You can actually see the bundles of carbon nanotubes
0:49:24 > 0:49:26forming this meshwork across the surface.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30The holes in the mesh are too small for the synthetic cells to escape,
0:49:30 > 0:49:34but just the right size for the smaller therapeutic molecules
0:49:34 > 0:49:37to leave the capsule and enter the body.
0:49:37 > 0:49:39We'll get a sense for how it works
0:49:39 > 0:49:41once it's actually implanted into a human,
0:49:41 > 0:49:43so this is a schematic representation
0:49:43 > 0:49:47of how we might implant the capsule under the skin and then the capsule
0:49:47 > 0:49:50could potentially respond to the radiation exposure
0:49:50 > 0:49:54and once it responds it will release the therapeutic molecule
0:49:54 > 0:49:58or the protective molecule altering the physiology of the astronaut
0:49:58 > 0:49:59and protecting that astronaut
0:49:59 > 0:50:02from whatever threat exposure has happened.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05You can think of this as a completely novel
0:50:05 > 0:50:06drug delivery system.
0:50:06 > 0:50:10So, it's triggered by the thing that it's trying to prevent.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13- Exactly. That's the beauty of the system.- It's so elegant.
0:50:13 > 0:50:14We really think it is.
0:50:14 > 0:50:20So, how close are you to getting it actually into a human test?
0:50:20 > 0:50:24I think it's going to be ready in about two to five years.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27- So, just around the corner? - Just around the corner.
0:50:28 > 0:50:32NASA are famous for their giant feats of machine engineering
0:50:32 > 0:50:35but now they can apply their prowess at a microscopic level,
0:50:35 > 0:50:39making biological machines.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42It's the ground floor of a defining technology
0:50:42 > 0:50:46and it might not only be for astronauts but every one of us.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49Of all the weird things that I've seen,
0:50:49 > 0:50:52I think this one is the one that impresses me the most,
0:50:52 > 0:50:54because it's so real,
0:50:54 > 0:50:58this means that a whole new range of biological machines
0:50:58 > 0:51:00can be designed in the knowledge
0:51:00 > 0:51:05that they can sit inside of us, actually under our skin.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19As this technology is pushed further and further,
0:51:19 > 0:51:24the line between what's intriguing and unsettling becomes even finer,
0:51:24 > 0:51:27and the idea of playing God seems to draw closer.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32But there's one corner that's left to turn.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35Being able to programme biological machines
0:51:35 > 0:51:37by having control of microbes is one thing.
0:51:38 > 0:51:43But what if we took that control to more complex life forms?
0:51:43 > 0:51:47What about if it was much more personal,
0:51:47 > 0:51:52if we could actually control what's in our bodies or even in here?
0:51:52 > 0:51:55Well, that would take us to a whole new level.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03A level that takes the principles of synthetic biology
0:52:03 > 0:52:06to the most precious part of our anatomy.
0:52:10 > 0:52:15To the root of art, culture and the full spectrum of our emotions.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17The brain.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24This is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
0:52:24 > 0:52:26a place where people who think differently
0:52:26 > 0:52:28can explore the limits of their field.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35Professor Ed Boyden began his academic career here
0:52:35 > 0:52:39almost two decades ago at just 15 years of age,
0:52:39 > 0:52:44today he's driving a totally new field called Synthetic Neurobiology.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50Ed, this looks like an electronics lab to me, not a biology lab,
0:52:50 > 0:52:52so how did you get here?
0:52:52 > 0:52:55Well, I actually started out my education as an electrical engineer,
0:52:55 > 0:52:58trying to build new kinds of computer and to figure out
0:52:58 > 0:53:01how to repair and alter systems such as submarines
0:53:01 > 0:53:03and quantum computers and other things like that,
0:53:03 > 0:53:06and I got really interested in trying to engineer
0:53:06 > 0:53:08the most complex computer there is, the brain.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11Turns out the brain uses the same kinds of electrical pulses
0:53:11 > 0:53:14to compute and communicate that computers do,
0:53:14 > 0:53:17and if we could try to control those elements, that would allow us
0:53:17 > 0:53:20to enter information into them, like you can enter information
0:53:20 > 0:53:23into a computer circuit. So, what we're trying to do now
0:53:23 > 0:53:26is use these illuminators, these lasers, to do exactly that.
0:53:26 > 0:53:27But let me show you how it works, first.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34What they've done here is taken a light source
0:53:34 > 0:53:38and connected it directly into the mouse's brain.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40Every time the mouse goes to this point
0:53:40 > 0:53:42a pulse of light is being delivered
0:53:42 > 0:53:44to a very specific point in the brain.
0:53:44 > 0:53:48That point is actually a place deep in the brain
0:53:48 > 0:53:51where neurons that mediate reward and pleasure, and so on,
0:53:51 > 0:53:54are thought to be residing. So, basically, the mouse
0:53:54 > 0:53:57is going to this little portal and putting its nose in there.
0:53:57 > 0:53:59Every time it does that, he gets a pulse of light,
0:53:59 > 0:54:01and he's, sort of, working for light.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04This other portal, the mouse doesn't get anything,
0:54:04 > 0:54:05so he prefers to go to that spot.
0:54:05 > 0:54:08But I still don't understand how you actually make the brain
0:54:08 > 0:54:12sensitive to light, because it's not, it's inside our dark skulls.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15Well, neurons in the brain don't normally respond to light.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18What we have to do is to find molecules that do
0:54:18 > 0:54:20and put them into the neurons.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23And it turns out that species out in the wild like this green algae
0:54:23 > 0:54:25have to sense light in order to photosynthesize.
0:54:25 > 0:54:29This species of algae has an eye spot that senses light
0:54:29 > 0:54:32and converts light into electricity. That's how it's able to navigate,
0:54:32 > 0:54:34by turning these little flagellas
0:54:34 > 0:54:37so it can steer it toward the surface of pond.
0:54:37 > 0:54:39If you zoom in on this little eye spot,
0:54:39 > 0:54:41you'll find proteins that, when they are hit by light,
0:54:41 > 0:54:44will actually generate little electrical pulses
0:54:44 > 0:54:49and that's exactly what we need if we want to control a neuron.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53Ed has programmed a virus to travel to specific neurons in the brain
0:54:53 > 0:54:55and deposit the light sensitive molecule,
0:54:55 > 0:54:59tiling the surface of the brain cells like solar panels.
0:55:01 > 0:55:05This turns those specific neurons, and only those neurons,
0:55:05 > 0:55:09into on/off switches activated by light.
0:55:09 > 0:55:11So, this is the, sort of, synthetic biology angle to it,
0:55:11 > 0:55:16you're taking algae and putting it into the mouse,
0:55:16 > 0:55:19but it's, sort of, another level above this because you're also
0:55:19 > 0:55:23controlling that by using an electrical circuit.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26Effectively, this is plugged into the mouse's brain
0:55:26 > 0:55:30and turning it on, which makes this mouse, effectively, a cyborg.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34Absolutely. What we're trying to do is deliver information to the brain
0:55:34 > 0:55:36so we can control its natural processing.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38To do that, we've been working on ways
0:55:38 > 0:55:40to go beyond just one light source.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43For example, now we can beam light all over the brain in a 3D pattern,
0:55:43 > 0:55:47turning on and off the circuits that are involved with emotions,
0:55:47 > 0:55:49decision making, sensations and actions.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53We're in the matrix here, aren't we? Is this not exactly the way
0:55:53 > 0:55:56brain control is going to be in the future?
0:55:56 > 0:56:00I think science fiction can be really inspiring for new technologies.
0:56:00 > 0:56:03I mean, it sounds potentially terrifying.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06Well, the ability to control brain circuits with precision
0:56:06 > 0:56:10we're regarding as a scientific tool to allow us to understand brain
0:56:10 > 0:56:11and also as a medical prototype.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14If you look at the world, there's something like a billion people
0:56:14 > 0:56:17who have some kind of brain disorder and many of them
0:56:17 > 0:56:19like Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis,
0:56:19 > 0:56:21stroke, traumatic brain injury,
0:56:21 > 0:56:23there's basically no treatment for those things.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26The 20th century was all about pharmacology, right?
0:56:26 > 0:56:29Drugs for treating epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and so on,
0:56:29 > 0:56:31but the problem is, if you bathe the brain in a substance
0:56:31 > 0:56:35you're going to affect normal neurons as well as neurons you want to fix,
0:56:35 > 0:56:36and that can cause side effects.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39So, imagine that we go back to example of epilepsy.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41What if we could turn off just the little piece of brain,
0:56:41 > 0:56:43just for the time of a seizure and block it?
0:56:43 > 0:56:47And therefore we won't have the side effects associated with it
0:56:47 > 0:56:48other than that time.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51So, what you're trying to do is hit the defective bit, ignore the rest?
0:56:51 > 0:56:52Absolutely.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00Having control over simple cells is one thing
0:57:00 > 0:57:03but introducing control into our brains?
0:57:03 > 0:57:05Well, that is something else,
0:57:05 > 0:57:09this is the absolute cutting edge, not just of the science,
0:57:09 > 0:57:11but also of the ethical debate.
0:57:11 > 0:57:14We're talking about introducing control
0:57:14 > 0:57:17into the most complex circuitry that there is,
0:57:17 > 0:57:19our own minds.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36I've seen some extraordinary things on this trip...
0:57:38 > 0:57:41All based on the idea that you can treat the natural world
0:57:41 > 0:57:45as spare parts for machines that can be rebuilt and reprogrammed.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51And the result? Entirely new lifeforms
0:57:51 > 0:57:54or biological machines that tread a line
0:57:54 > 0:57:57somewhere between controversy and opportunity.
0:57:59 > 0:58:01And so, it's easy to see
0:58:01 > 0:58:04why some people might think of it as playing God.
0:58:08 > 0:58:10What's really struck me about all of this,
0:58:10 > 0:58:15whether you're in a small community garage or a colossal corporate lab,
0:58:15 > 0:58:18is the number of people who have access to this technology
0:58:18 > 0:58:22and the speed at which it's happened has been breathtaking.
0:58:22 > 0:58:25Now, whatever you think of the uneasy bargain
0:58:25 > 0:58:29that surrounds synthetic biology, one thing is absolutely clear.
0:58:29 > 0:58:31We have created for ourselves
0:58:31 > 0:58:35unprecedented power over life itself.