Future Tense Newsletter: What Exactly Is Synthetic Biology? – Slate Magazine (blog)

J. Craig Venter is one of the people we'll be discussing in our package on synthetic biology.

Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Greetings, Future Tensers,

Its a new month, which means a new Futurographythe series in which we at Future Tense introduce you to the technologies that will define tomorrow. Each month, we choose a new tech topic and break it down, and Aprils topic will be synthetic biology. Jacob Brogan gets us started with a conversational introduction explaining what synthetic biology is exactly and a cheat sheet to guide us through the key players, the big debates, and the lingo we should know.

In the past week, we also wrapped up the Futurography unit on the new space race, with pieces on why the United Arab Emirates is building a space program from scratch and how international collaborations in space reflect politics on Earth. Once youve read everything from the unit, you can test your knowledge by taking our quiz and then share your thoughts on the topic by completing our reader survey.

Other stories we read this week while imagining what fun could be had with a Cards Against Humanity expansion pack inspired by members of Congress browser histories:

Watching tweets burn, Emily Fritcke For Future Tense

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University.

See original here:
Future Tense Newsletter: What Exactly Is Synthetic Biology? - Slate Magazine (blog)