Sunday, April 02, 2006

Here be dragons





Armed with their virtual cell, GeneDupe's scientists can customise the result so that it belongs to a particular species, by loading it with a virtual copy of that animal's genome. Then, if the cell is also loaded with the right virtual molecules, it will behave like a fertilised egg, and start dividing and developing -- first into an embryo, and ultimately into an adult.

Because this "growth" is going on in a computer, it happens fast. Passing from egg to adult in one of GeneDupe's enormous Mythmaker computers takes less than a minute. And it is here that Charles Darwin gets a look in. With such a short generation time, GeneDupe's scientists can add a little evolution to their products.

(Via Future Feeder.)

2 comments:

Ken said...

Yessirree, no doubt: the day will come when a rich kid can get a pet Allosaurus Atrox for his birthday. I'd love one, myself. Brush his scaley (or feathered) back, feed 'em jerked jerks, scare the living shit out of everybody.... Oh, God, how bee-yoo-tiful! I WANT ONE! :-)

Word Verification: Kefakki. A type of Pita bread. Stuffed with cloned A. Atrox meat.

Mac said...

We're not terribly far from an era when a kid can literally *become* an Allosaurus, if that's what he or she's into...