The Genesis Machine

“[A] fascinating survey of the present and future of biotechnology.”

“[A] road map for navigating [synthetic biology’s] opportunities and perils.”

“The book is a brilliant narrative of the future of human life. Webb and Hessel explain the complex matter in such a way that experts and laypeople alike can follow, whose biology lessons were a while ago.”

“[A] thought-provoking introduction to synthetic biology…[a] breathtaking science, but it is also scary. Who's in charge, and where are the brakes?”

“[D]eeply researched but accessible prose… A wrinkle on the near future that many readers will not have pondered—and should.”

“The Genesis Machine is a brilliant pairing of two visionaries who offer us a comprehensive take on making a better world through biology.”

“The Genesis Machine is a very readable story about how the DNA world is shifting from reading the genetic code to writing and editing it. Amy Webb and Andrew Hessel then take the reader on a journey of possible world changing events that could result from this new technology.”

“This spectacular and highly accessiblebook clearly and thoughtfully examines the most important revolution of our lives––and of life itself. Understanding how we and future generations will use the tools of synthetic biology to transform the worlds inside and around us is essential to being an informed and empowered person and citizen in the twenty-first century. The Genesis Machine is a guide to exactly that and a must-read book.”

“You may not realize it yet, but your life—and all of life itself—is about to change. From programmable genes to designer medicines, synthetic biology is going to transform everything. The Genesis Machine is a surprisingly intimate, incisive, and readable guide to the opportunities, risks, and moral dilemmas of the brave new world ahead.”

“The Genesis Machine is a tour de force! Amy Webb and Andrew Hessel masterfully reveal the emerging network of forces—people, labs, computer systems, government agencies, and businesses—that will drive humanity’s next great transformation. Their fascinating (and frightening) conclusions—that the human ecosystem can actually become programmed—will touch every facet of our lives in the future. This brilliant work is an absolute must-read for national security professionals and defense planners who need to understand the complex dynamics at play in the future competition for bio-hegemony.”

“We can now program biological systems like we program computers, with artificial intelligence and machine learning accelerating the speed of innovation and applications of synthetic biology. In an accessible and fascinating narrative, The Genesis Machine lays out a roadmap for this interdisciplinary field of synthetic biology that is forever reshaping life as we know it.”

“Are latest innovations in synthetic biology simply a miracle that ends a crisis or a breakthrough to an entirely new way of living? That’s the question futurist Amy Webb and microbiologist Andrew Hessel reveal for us with this fascinating book. The history of the world is a history of unintended consequences, for better and for worse, and Webb and Hessel capture the coming fusion of tech and biology in vivid detail.”

“The Genesis Machine is fantastic, explaining how genetic code is the alphabet in which much of the future will be written. Amy Webb and Andrew Hessel have taken the very complicated subject of synthetic biology and made it understandable with sharp prose and sharp analysis that cut through mysteries of science and twenty-first-century humanism.”