Synthetic DNA is a New Hope for Alien Life on Earth

     So what is XNA (xeno nucleic acid)? DNA and RNA are formed of components known as nucleic acids. XNA is any of the chemical analogues resembling DNA but formed of alternative or unknown nucleic acids. While most XNA is unstable, a form well known to research scientists in the field of synthetic life is known to be stable, this is PNA.
     While PNA isn't prevalent on Earth, it is a more likely candidate for spontaneous generation than DNA. Researchers in Xenobiology believe that it is possible to construct all of the parts of a cell to encode, transcribe, and edit XNA. Some of them believe that this is a threshold for science to offer a more optimized model for life. An artificial life-form. A new, and unknown life-form. This is, essentially, alien life made by the hand of mankind.
      There is a large body of work for xenogenetics, or nucleic acid analogues as they are also called, but there is little reason to believe that XNA-based components can mimic all functions of DNA-based components in cellular life at this point. Certain XNA's are valuable right now as sensor components in DNA research. Adding a florescent compound to XNA that encodes a particular DNA strand can isolate binding sites that match the target DNA.
     XNA also may have value as a chemical encoding of information. DNA computing has been proven to be efficient, and can yield results from complicated information. DNA and RNA break down from biological interference, however. XNA is less vulnerable. Some forms of XNA can encode DNA sequences, or other information long term. Once decoded, a wealth of information can be transmitted at a molecular level.
     Molecular computing with XNA could yield some surprises. If efficient processes were developed to electronically manipulate metal ligand XNA as a nanobot, and then such XNA could interface with normal computers as well, and if the electrical properties were sufficiently predictable to encode signals, and a reliable mechanism was in place to decode them, XNA could be a super-computing material.
     Regardless of what is done with XNA, it will likely create few surprises for our future. I personally look forward to what can be done. Embrace the future, and brace yourself for surprises.

On The Frontier of Synthetic Life

     Synthetic life. The very notion of life that is born from the efforts of humanity is daunting. Images are provoked of Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory. This is far from the true efforts in modern times however.
     Today's adventures in synthetic life may be categorized as mundane experiments in chemical robotics. The search for artificial muscles to increase the abilities of limited robotic kindred has opened doors that are unimaginable in materials research. Plastics have been altered to the point where they are interacting with first electrical components, heat, light, but also with DNA. Research at John Hopkins University has opened up a frontier in soft robotics.
     Hydrogels. The secret word that unlocks plastics into the fields of medicine, robotics, and more. Hydrogels are a plastic built around encapsulated water. The conductivity and behavior of hydrogel materials is chemically alterable, or thermally, by light, or by electricity. The nature of hydrogels has branded them as a smart material.
    Behaviorally, hydrogels are similar to biology. Some are even based around protein materials, blurring the lines between body and machine. Soon, every component of the robot can be based in hydrogel: actuators, conductors, sensors, transistors, or even electrical source voltage (similar to battery or capacitor). Many hydrogels are biologically compatible. I believe the next frontier in regenerative medicine will be hydrogels that will be robotic analogies to many organs, and could even be implanted with your own cells.
    One day we will be altogether too happy for a second chance at life that was borrowed from synthetic analogies of life. Hydrogels will be there to bridge the gap between chemicals, robots, and human medicine in the coming decades of medicine. Given enough time, the treatments that we receive as medical patients will become more and more like cybernetic implants. Time will tell where this will take us as a species, but I don't think that we will be looking back woefully. We will benefit immensely from the material improvement in medicine.

Declaration of Geekdom

    With all the hype in technology, it seems hard to believe, but humans
need a little development too. We are the technology, or rather, our understanding of the technologies enable them to be used. The most savvy, the most developed in these uses of technology are referred to as the geeks.

   I am one of these elite. I strive daily to understand where we are going in terms of technology and what we can do with it. Whenever the movement in technology is open, as it is starting to become, the geeks become the guidebook in what can be done with it.

    More importantly, when we connect, when we share, when we develop new things together, as a geekdom, then these things take a life of their own. This is the root of the open software, and the open hardware movements. This is the start of the maker movement, and without community, we cannot keep its ideals of openness, and collaboration.

   We must not be too guarded. We belong to the geekdom, and this is a community of friends and kindred spirits.

New Science How to Guide

Every once in a while scientific fields become so saturated and mature that progress seems impossible. What is needed is a new science. But inventing a science from scratch would take more than a lifetime and acceptance is unlikely. Fortunately, there is a solution. Areas of science that overlap are often under developed. They are also complex. With the science of heuristics, and isomorphic studies (universalization of patterns and rules, which are applicable to more than one area),  and lots of mathematical and concept based research new sciences are possible.

There is a caveat, however. Young sciences, like startup businesses, must behave differently than mature sciences. What is unproven must be tested, whether it's been done, or is thought to be practical. In other words, rather than the unproven being considered false, it is considered possible, if there is any way of approaching it experimentally left at all. This is one of the only ways to produce scientific progress. Scientific method is good for textbooks, but not an effective way of producing progress. The old empirical method of trial and error is best for producing progress in a young scientific field. This is equally true of the areas of overlap between seemingly mature sciences.

Another point to consider is, for a science to be considered and developed further in society, it must be useful in producing something new. With overlap, a lot of old things can be made more efficiently, but new possibilities produce interest. The science must also be relatively open... with no secrets or expensive textbooks. Amateurs often produce more results (with varying levels of success) than experts because they don't "know" that certain things aren't supposed to work. Whatever works, will work... let's just leave the testing to the experts.

Some work in developing these sciences can be done by putting the applicable math and physics in computer code or scripts. Making computer models is sometimes more possible than multibillion dollar projects for amateurs. If you don't know programming, there are many free resources online that teach it. Even free programming tools. Blender (the 3d modeling tool) is relatively open to being coded.. it seems to use python scripting. http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual

So to sum it up. Invent a new science by doing the following.

1. Pick two or more sciences with interesting areas of overlap.
2. Define the rules or criteria that enable the sciences to work together well.
3. Test new ideas and experiments to try. Or model them.
4. Viable sciences will create new things, and be able to be learned by an amateur community.

Last of all... if the science doesn't seem to be currently viable. Don't waste the effort that you've already put into it. It may make interesting stories, games or short youtube videos. The inspiration from amateur science may just be what we need to pull our little world from its current stagnation.