Biocode

This book gives an overview of the broader impacts of genomics on our understanding of life and an account of the major international projects underway since the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003. A major implication is the realisation that we are all ecosystems and should begin to think accordingly. An obvious example is the human microbiome - the huge variety of gut flora. Some potential modifications suggest that we have the capacity to evolve into a new and hybrid species that Itskov calls homo evolutis and conjuring up life extension and genomic immortality as an upload. However, none of this is unpacked in the way it is in The Singularity reviewed above; indeed, the tone is more descriptive than critical. The authors do sound a note of caution where the Earth as a whole is concerned - we are terra-genoming at an increasing pace without a full understanding of the implications of our actions. With respect to the Planetary Genome Project, we would do well to bring in a better understanding of complexity and systems to the more reductionist biological way of thinking, and I found it surprising that the word epigenetic did not appear in the index.