Creating Novel Plants Soon to be A Project for Basement Biohackers

In a big step forward for synthetic biology, researchers in Missouri have successfully created an artificial Maize chromosome. Although similar feats have been achieved in yeast and bacteria, this is a first for multi-cellular life. According to some projections, it should therefore be easy to get your custom made plant chromosomes by 2010. Forget about transgenes, in the 2010s it'll be all about transchromosomes.

1010 by 2010

That's 10¹⁰ base pairs of DNA sequenced or synthesized by one person in a single day. That's a hell of a lot. More than enough to cover the whole human genome several times. And that's just one person. Imagine how much a factory full of monkey could do. If you think this sounds ridiculous, read the rationale for the prediction in this great article. As shown below, the projection is based on the current exponential growth of biotechnology, mimicking the trend known as Moore's law, where the number of transistors that can be fit on a microchip has been growing exponentially for the last 50-60 years. The article makes some interesting comparisons between the two industries and also features some of the best discussion I've read on the future of biotechnology and its place in society.