News — At The Edge — 8/3
We live is an era that mixes the sublime and ridiculous — synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, no anonymity, disinformation — in extraordinary abundance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Designed protein switch allows unprecedented control over living cells —
“[T]he first completely artificial protein switch that can work inside living cells to modify — or even commandeer — the cell’s complex internal circuitry… dubbed LOCKR…[that] can be ‘programmed’ to modify gene expression, redirect cellular traffic, degrade specific proteins, and control protein binding interactions…[and] build new biological circuits that behave like autonomous sensors.
These circuits detect cues from the cell’s internal or external environment and respond by making changes to the cell…akin to the way a thermostat senses ambient temperature and directs a heating or cooling system to shut itself off as soon as a desired temperature is reached….
’The ability to control cells with designer proteins ushers in a new era of biology…’the same way that integrated circuits enabled the explosion of the computer chip industry, these…biological switches could soon unlock precise control over the behavior of living cells and, ultimately, our health’….
Having no counterpart in the natural world, LOCKR…[is] among the first biotechnology tools entirely conceived of and built by humans….
‘Right now, every cell is responding to its environment…[then] to figure out what to do about it…[using] natural systems to tune gene expression or degrade proteins, for example’….To stay healthy, cells must tightly control their biochemical processes. Abnormal activity in just one gene, or buildup of the wrong protein, can upset a cell’s equilibrium…[and] could lead to cell death or even cancer.
LOCKR gives scientists a new way to interact with living cells…[and] a new wave of therapies for diseases…’limited more by our imagination and creativity rather than the proteins that nature has evolved.’” https://phys.org/news/2019-07-protein-unprecedented-cells.html
Gaia meets AI: Cyborgs will save humanity, says James Lovelock —
“Lovelock thinks the world is leaving the Anthropocene (i.e., the current geological age, when human activity has a dominant impact on the planet), for the Novacene, in which ‘cyborgs’ (AI systems) will play the central role….
[T]he next step in natural selection…because cyborgs can reproduce and evolve…think thousands of times faster than humans…[and] are as cleverer than people as people are than plants….
[Cyborgs’] incentive to conserve humans…to help cool the planet for their own survival — though mortals may be relegated to the status of pets and play-things….
[T]he cyborgs will probably enact other kinds of geoengineering that lower Earth’s temperature….[T]he Novacene is to be welcomed…[to] guide Gaia through the astronomical crises now imminent’….
[Still] work on autonomous weapons…is as foolish as it is deadly….[Says] humans are cursed by language because it forces causal, linear thinking at the expense of intuition.” https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2019/07/25/cyborgs-will-save-humanity-says-james-lovelock
Researchers spotlight the lie of ‘anonymous’ data —
“[New method] correctly re-identify 99.98% of individuals in anonymized data sets with just 15 demographic attributes…[meaning] complex data sets of personal information cannot be protected…by current methods of ‘anonymizing’ data…[and] ‘and seriously challenge the technical and legal adequacy of the de-identification release-and-forget model’.…
While research has shown for years how frighteningly easy it is to re-identify individuals within anonymous data sets, the novel bit here is the researchers have built a statistical model that estimates how easy it would be to do so to any data set….’and showed that even extremely small sampling…not sufficient to prevent re-identification and protect your data’….
In one test based on…three random attributes (gender, data of birth, ZIP code)…[found] chance of re-identification of…individual scored by the model went from 54% to a full 95% by adding just one more attribute (marital status)….
The rule of thumb is the more attributes in a data set, the more likely a match is to be correct and therefore the less likely the data can be protected by ‘anonymization’….
Biometric data is…chock-full of unique data points…[so] notion that any eye scan…could really be considered ‘anonymous’ just isn’t plausible….
’Our results, first, show that few attributes are often sufficient to re-identify with high confidence individuals in heavily incomplete datasets and, second, reject the claim that sampling or releasing partial datasets, e.g., from one hospital network or a single online service, provide plausible deniability. Finally, they show that, third, even if population uniqueness is low…many individuals are still at risk of being successfully re-identified by an attacker’….
[Need] regulators and lawmakers to recognize the threat posed by data reidentification…pay legal attention to ‘provable privacy-enhancing systems and security measures’…such as encrypted search and privacy preserving computations; granular access control mechanisms; policy enforcement and accountability; and data provenance.” https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/24/researchers-spotlight-the-lie-of-anonymous-data/
Disinformation’s spread: bots, trolls and all of us —
“[T]hose behind disinformation campaigns purposely entangle orchestrated action with organic activity. Audiences become willing but unwitting collaborators, helping to achieve campaigners’ goals…[because] disinformation often layers true information with false — an accurate fact set in misleading context, a real photograph purposely mislabeled.
The key is not to determine the truth of a specific post or tweet, but to understand how it fits into a larger disinformation campaign….
[An] effective disinformation campaigns involve diverse participants…who amplify and embellish messages that polarize communities and sow doubt about science, mainstream journalism and Western governments….
Historically, manipulating journalists was a primary strategy. Now, social-media platforms have given voice to new influencers and expanded the range of targets….
Recognizing the role of unwitting crowds is a persistent challenge….So is deciding how to respond.
Perhaps the most confusing misconception is that the message of a campaign is the same as its goals…[so] the specific message does not matter….Disinformation often specifically uses the rhetoric and techniques of critical thinking to foster nihilistic skepticism…[like] listening to static through headphones. It is designed to overwhelm our capacity to make sense of information, to push us into thinking that the healthiest response is to disengage.…
[It] attacks us where we are most vulnerable, at the heart of our value systems, around societal values such as freedom….[Must] go beyond trying to measure the impact of individual disinformation campaigns…[with] models that can encompass how disinformation changes hearts, minds, networks and actions. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02235-x
Find more of my ideas on Medium at,
A Passion to Evolve. (and archived at bottom of the page.)
Or click the Follow button below to add me to your feed.
Prefer a weekly email newsletter — free, no ads, no spam, & never sell the list — email me dochuston1@gmail.com with “add me” in the subject line.
May you live long and prosper!
Doc Huston
