Juan Enriquez: We can reprogram life. How to do it wisely
Juan Enríquez: Podemos reprogramar la vida. ¿Cómo hacerlo con prudencia?
Juan Enriquez thinks and writes about the profound changes that genomics and other life sciences will bring in business, technology, politics and society. Full bio
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called Dustin Hoffman.
which some of you may have heard of,
que algunos conocerán,
un tipo mayor lo lleva a la piscina,
by the old guy to the pool,
al joven universitario,
the old guy basically says one word,
what that word is.
it was completely the wrong advice.
el consejo completamente equivocado.
for semiconductors had already been made,
para los semiconductores,
being built in 1967,
de construirse en 1967,
hubiese escuchado la palabra correcta,
the right one word,
onstage -- oh, I don't know --
en el escenario -- no lo sé --
we might want to give
no termine vendiendo Tupperware.
a Tupperware salesman.
would you give people,
graduate out by the pool
sería "código de vida".
we have of programming life.
que tenemos para programar la vida.
or a whole series of creatures.
o todo tipo de criaturas.
about this incredible ability
en esta capacidad increíble
haga lo que quieran,
durante miles de años,
for thousands of years,
se ha modificado
en cierta forma, se obtiene brócoli.
you get broccoli.
in a second way, you get kale.
se obtiene col rizada.
all-natural, organic markets,
mercados orgánicos totalmente naturales,
the lifecode of plants for a long time.
de las plantas desde hace mucho tiempo.
politically neutral term --
políticamente neutral...
intelligent design.
un diseño inteligente.
of doing this at random
a lo largo de generaciones,
we're inserting specific proteins,
proteínas específicas
for very deliberate purposes.
para propósitos muy deliberados.
how this stuff happens.
cómo ocurren estas cosas.
might think about sex.
podrían pensar en el sexo.
how we've changed sex.
cómo hemos cambiado el sexo.
and natural to change it.
perfectamente normal cambiarlo.
con el tiempo.
es perfectamente normal y natural,
that's perfectly normal and natural,
for most of human history.
la mayor parte de la historia humana,
se separe de la concepción.
of the consequences of that,
las consecuencias de eso,
advanced, like art.
of painting and sculpture,
o arte en inglés,
reproductive technologies.
Tecnologías de Reproducción Asistida.
reproductive technologies?
de reproducción asistida?
are things like in vitro fertilization.
es la fertilización in vitro.
there's very good reasons to do it.
para hacer fertilización in vitro.
can't conceive otherwise.
concebir de otra forma.
sex, conception, baby.
de la concepción, del bebé.
of when you have a baby,
de cuándo tener el bebé,
and where the baby is fertilized.
se fertiliza al bebé.
of other things we've been doing,
que hemos hecho,
you can freeze eggs,
podemos congelar óvulos,
if you're a cancer patient.
si uno es paciente de cáncer.
or under radiation,
a quimioterapia o radiación,
and you can freeze them,
decoupled sex from time.
el sexo del tiempo.
born -- oh, in 50 years?
tener gemelos... ¿en 50 años?
really profound changes
turns out to be a superpower.
resulta ser un superpoder.
powerful way of changing viruses,
para cambiar virus,
nosotros mismos.
have been thinking about for a while.
hemos estado pensando durante un tiempo.
like electricity, like an automobile,
como la electricidad, el automóvil,
potentially can be misused.
podría usarse indebidamente.
beings into chimeras.
humanos en quimeras.
where you mix animals?
en el que se mezclan animales?
el grupo sanguíneo.
in a female body or vice versa,
en un cuerpo femenino o viceversa,
de que la razón para hacer eso
you're doing that
during cancer treatments.
durante los tratamientos de cáncer.
ósea de otra persona,
some fundamental aspects of yourself,
fundamentales de uno mismo,
that happened 20 years ago.
She graduated as a valedictorian.
y se gradúa como mejor alumna.
extraordinario,
born to three parents.
nacido de tres padres.
enfermedad mitocondrial letal
mitochondrial disease
de una tercera persona
germline engineering,
ingeniería de la línea germinal,
if she has kids, will be saved
si tendrá hijos, estarán a salvo
the various authorities said,
diversas autoridades dijeron:
and there are risks to not doing stuff,
y hay riesgos al no hacer cosas,
saved by this technology,
que se salvaron con esta tecnología
for the next 20 years.
durante los siguientes 20 años.
maybe we should have longer studies,
deberíamos hacer estudios más largos,
maybe we should do that,"
and there are consequences to not acting.
y las hay por no actuar.
is completely unnatural.
es totalmente antinatural.
for humans to be felled
humanos fueran diezmados
of smallpox, of tuberculosis.
de viruela, tuberculosis.
we are putting unnatural things
estamos poniendo cosas no naturales
outweighs the risk.
es mayor que el riesgo.
unnatural animals,
y animales no naturales,
a unas 7000 millones de personas.
like create new life-forms.
again, that sounds terribly scary
y terriblemente molesto,
live on your dining room table.
de vida viven en la mesa del comedor.
on your dining room table --
en la mesa del comedor
that's natural about them,
the flowers to make this color,
para que tengan ese color,
your loved one wildflowers
silvestres a los seres queridos
a whole lot of time.
de Darwin por completo.
depended on two principles:
dependía de dos principios:
y las mutaciones aleatorias.
what was structured,
lo que estaba estructurado,
parallel evolutionary system
completamente en paralelo
selection and non-random mutation.
no natural y mutaciones no aleatorias.
thousands of years ago
convertirlos en perros.
turning them into big dogs
en perros grandes y en perros chicos.
en la Quinta Avenida
la selección natural.
are less natural than a cornfield.
naturales que un campo de maíz.
walk through a virgin forest
si caminamos por un bosque virgen
growing in orderly rows
crecer en filas ordenadas
through unnatural selection.
selección no natural.
it's the same with a rice field.
o con un campo de arroz.
it's the same with a suburb.
y con una urbanización.
la superficie terrestre
there is what we want,
lo que nosotros queremos,
you don't have grizzly bears
as the Octopus, his nickname.
of the Year in 2000.
that gave him six fingers
que resultó en seis dedos en cada mano,
if you're a pitcher.
through the forest
que conocemos mejor el tema.
gene-editing instruments,
más poderosos de edición de genes,
pharmaceutical products,
productos farmacéuticos,
to treat arthritis,
para tratar la artritis,
best-selling drug, Humira.
en realidad es un superpoder.
de programar cosas
that's going to change us
más que este código de vida.
para empezar,
for this stuff.
por estas cosas.
que asumir la responsabilidad
what we are choosing.
lo que estamos eligiendo.
by a verdict of somebody else.
de la empresa Pottery Barn:
you break it, you own it.
diversity in this stuff.
y celebrar su diversidad.
33 versions of hominids
33 versiones de homínidos
y natural del planeta
state of this Earth
walking around at the same time,
humanos caminando al mismo tiempo,
have some Neanderthal in us.
tenemos algo de neandertales,
have a lot more of it.
tienen mucho más de cada uno.
las decisiones de otras personas.
por no alterar nada,
to alter plants but not animals.
las plantas, pero no los animales,
to alter themselves.
o simplemente evolucionar.
to evolve themselves.
los seres humanos somos muy diversos,
of humans as very diverse,
from a single African mother
de una sola madre africana,
in 55 African chimpanzees
en 55 chimpancés africanos
a quarter of the Earth
una cuarta parte de la Tierra
o todo interconectado
parte agua y parte tierra,
in the oceans, part on land.
evolutionary decision on this planet.
en cada decisión evolutiva del planeta.
sistema evolutivo funcione
our evolutionary system running.
evolutionary system running.
these two things running in parallel
dos cosas funcionando en paralelo
emprendida por los humanos.
adventure human beings have been on.
humans have ever had.
hemos tenido los seres humanos.
not to participate in this stuff
You can participate in the politics.
Pueden participar en la política.
about where medicine is going,
hacia dónde va la medicina, la industria,
nosotros hacer caso omiso
shows up at a swimming pool
y dice una frase, una sola frase;
aquella frase que es "código de vida".
if that word is "lifecode."
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Juan Enriquez - FuturistJuan Enriquez thinks and writes about the profound changes that genomics and other life sciences will bring in business, technology, politics and society.
Why you should listen
A broad thinker who studies the intersections of these fields, Enriquez has a talent for bridging disciplines to build a coherent look ahead. He is the managing director of Excel Venture Management, a life sciences VC firm. He recently published (with Steve Gullans) Evolving Ourselves: How Unnatural Selection and Nonrandom Mutation Are Shaping Life on Earth. The book describes a world where humans increasingly shape their environment, themselves and other species.
Enriquez is a member of the board of Synthetic Genomics, which recently introduced the smallest synthetic living cell. Called “JCVI-syn 3.0,” it has 473 genes (about half the previous smallest cell). The organism would die if one of the genes is removed. In other words, this is the minimum genetic instruction set for a living organism.
Juan Enriquez | Speaker | TED.com