The coming wave of confluent biosynthetic, bioinformational and bioengineering technologies
Isak S. Pretorius, Thomas A. Dixon, Michael Boers, Ian T. Paulsen, Daniel L. Johnson
Abstract
Information and energy flows form the basis of all economic activity, with advanced technologies underpinning both. Profound uncertainties caused by geostrategic forces have accelerated a trillion-dollar race for technological superiority. The result is an onrush of “technovation” at the nexus of synthetic biotechnologies, information technologies, nanotechnologies and engineering technologies. This article explores recent breakthroughs in integrating chip technologies and synthetic bioinformational engineering. It investigates prospects of biomolecules as carriers of stored digital data, synthetic cells-on-a-chip, and hybrid semiconductors and next-generation artificial intelligence processors. Consilience—unity of knowledge—redefines possibilities emerging from the living interface of biologically-inspired engineering and engineering-enabled biology. The nexus of biotechnology, information technology, nanotechnology and engineering is at the heart of innovation. Here the authors explore breakthroughs in integrating chip technology and bioinformational processing for this emerging interface of bio-inspired engineering and engineering-enabled biology.