Futuretech Part III: Computing

The article from CNN.com about DNA computing that Loren Maki included in his scrapbook suggests that the central paradigm of new media – digitality – may be supplanted by DNA computing models. It implies that the digital paradigm could be replaced by quaternary designs based on the four letters A, C, G and T that represent molecules that make up a string of DNA.

Commonly understood and accepted notions of information may be challenged by such models as well. The notion that cells store “information” certainly diverges from information principles and concepts we’ve studied in this class. My wife is a biology professor, and while she concedes that DNA might be thought of as information, suggesting that it’s of the same order as spreadsheet data or HTML code requires a stretch of the imagination that’s only easy for the ethically challenged to make. Understanding DNA as mere information that may be manipulated to serve our needs will pose serious threats to the entire humanist worldview.

The fact that these implications aren’t even considered in the article speaks volumes of ever-widening gap between technology and philosophy.