Future of Science & Technology Q&A (May 10, 2024)

The Stephen Wolfram Podcast

Stephen Wolfram answers questions from his viewers about the future of science and technology as part of an unscripted livestream series, also available on YouTube here: https://wolfr.am/youtube-sw-qa

Questions include: Have you used LLMs to analyze genetic language? - Will bacteria become more resistant/stronger against human bodies in the future? Or will humans become stronger? - Could you just build specialized cells from scratch using printed DNA? - Can machines replace organs? - Several years ago, I read about research into DNA being used as logic gates. Is this still an active area of research, or has it been dismissed as not useful? - To what extent do you think we'll attain some kind of universality regarding the reprogramming of live biological systems, on par with current software systems running on silicon substrates? - How can cellular automata and systems like John Conway's Game of Life provide insights into evolutionary dynamics? - Can artificial life simulations effectively replicate aspects of biological evolution in a controlled digital environment? - A baseline bacterium for which we fully understand the effect of every gene on its own and of all genes as a whole. - ​​Do you think gene regulatory networks function as "observers like us"? - ​​Might it be possible in the future where if there's a crime, we could put a DNA sequence into a computer and it would show a picture of that person. i.e. by simulating the evolution of the organism?