I’ve been captivated this week by all the chatGPT explorations people are sharing. It’s an incredible breakthrough, something rare and special. But many people still haven’t heard of chatGPT. So I asked it to talk about itself and what we can expect over the next five years. You are welcome…

ChatGPT is a GPT-based natural language conversational system developed by OpenAI. Imagine chatting with a really well-read friend at a coffee shop. The text below was edited for formatting only. You can try it out for yourself here: https://chat.openai.com Q: How would you explain synthetic biology to an eight year…

Everyone agrees that we need to maximize the good bioeconomy and minimize the production of biological weapons. The question is how to achieve this. Last week I gave a keynote talk at GESDA, the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator. The session was moderated by Jane Metcalfe of NEO.LIFE …

Humanity needs to upgrade its infrastructure to have a healthy relationship with our home planet and to explore beyond it. — Climate change used to be something that I completely ignored. The world was so big. The value of an individual’s impact seemed so small. Not anymore. Today I believe that climate change is the biggest threat to our way of life that we’ve ever faced. The UN Environmental Program is unequivocal that climate change is real and that if we don’t change…

If we work together, COVID-19 could be the last pandemic. If we don’t, the next one could be much worse. The choice is ours. — In November 2019, my 2-year-old son got really sick. We took him to a doctor. Diagnosis: flu — a determination made with only a basic physical examination and no tests. He was prescribed rest and fluids. It had been a century since the infamous 1918 pandemic. Science and technology had advanced dramatically.

The ancient Greeks considered air to be an element, along with fire, water, and earth. It wasn’t until the 18th century that air was scientifically studied and determined to be a mixture. Why did it take so long? Because air is the invisible sea in which we swim. It’s everywhere…

Viruses have become easy to engineer. Flu season is an annual reminder that our biodefenses need a major upgrade. Flu Season It’s flu season again here in the US. Ads are reminding people to get their shots. The kids are coughing. Doctor visits are spiking. People are calling in sick. The figures…

The Human Genome Project launched in 1990 with the goal to read genomes. Now scientists are working to write them. The Genome Project-write (GPW) is an academic, international effort to advance whole-genome engineering. We recently held our annual meeting at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. It brought…