Rob Carlson on biological technology

On this week's podcast, Rob Carlson, principal at Biodesic, an engineering, consulting, and design firm in Seattle, and author of the book, Biology is Technology: the promise, peril, and new business of engineering life, discusses his book. Carlson explains what he means by "biology is technology" and gives a few examples of how humans have been using biology as technology for thousands of years. He then discusses a few modern biotechnology applications, like antibiotics, biologics, genetically modified organisms, fuels, and plastics. Carlson also talks about why more biotech garage innovators are needed, what the industry might be able to learn from open source software and hardware, and how legal and regulatory barriers to innovation in biotechnology might be minimized.

Related Links


Biology Is Technology: the promise, peril, and new business of engineering life
"A Life of Its Own: Where will synthetic biology lead us?," The New Yorker
"Biohacking: Hacking goes squishy," The Economist
Book review: Robert Carlson's Biology is Technology , Journal of Evolution and Technology

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