Application of Asilomar Guidelines to Self-Replicating Machines

Application of Asilomar Guidelines to Self-Replicating Machines 5th Terasem Workshop on Geoethical Nanotechnology 2009 July 20th Terasem Island, Second Life martine4@gmail.com

Presentation Structure • Reconciling conflicts regarding self-replicating nanotechnology • Apprehensions about gray goo • Scientific ambitions in remaking life • Applying practical biotechnology guidelines to artificial self-replication martine4@gmail.com

The Self-Replicating Machines Conflict • We need self-replicating machines for enhanced survival • We are afraid that such machines will jeopardize our survival martine4@gmail.com

Self-Replicating Nanotech Is Most Useful to Extended Life Human Body Creates 50x106 Cells Per Second martine4@gmail.com

Since Nature Needed It, Nanotechnologists Will Probably Need it If Nature Couldn’t Do Without Self-Replication, It Is Likely That Our Efforts to Extend Nature Will Not Succeed Without Self-Replicating Technology martine4@gmail.com

Of Course Nature Also Gave Us Smallpox and HIV 500 Million People Killed By Smallpox HIV Killes 250,000 People MONTHLY martine4@gmail.com

Crichton Imagined Self-Replicating Nanobots Would Swarm Against Us martine4@gmail.com

Self-Replication Scares Us “However, a determined and sophisticated group of terrorists or "non state entities" could potentially, with considerable difficulty, specifically engineer systems to become autonomous replicators able to proliferate in the natural environment, either as a nuisance, a specifically targeted weapon, or in the worst case, a weapon of mass destruction.” foresight.org/guidelines/current.html#Replicators 2006 martine4@gmail.com

Uploaded Minds Will Want Nanotech Bodies HEAVEN VIRUS MIND CHILDREN martine4@gmail.com

Vitrified Bodies May Need Self-Replicating Nanotech for Revival MOLECULAR ASSEMBLY v. BOLUS INJECTION(S) When ALCOR RevivesIts Patients… Can Trillions of Injected Nanobots Handle It, Or Will They Need Replicate? martine4@gmail.com

Space Colonists May Need Self-Replicating Nanotech for World-Building CIVILIZATION-READY BUILD & THEY’LL COME martine4@gmail.com

Humanity Needs Self-Replicating Nanotech for Galactic Surveillance BUILD A COPY. REPEAT. FIND A GOOD PLANET martine4@gmail.com

Very Similar Situation with Recombinant Biotechnology martine4@gmail.com

Huge Increase in Practicality By Permitting Self-Replication martine4@gmail.com

Apply ASILOMAR Rules of Recombinant DNA to Nano? martine4@gmail.com

The Asilomar Guidelines • containment essential & must match the risk • use of biological barriers to limit the spread e.g. host-specific & nonsurvivable • physical containment, • good microbiological practices & training • no cloning of recombinant DNAs derived from highly pathogenic organisms, containing toxin genes, or making biohazards that could not be contained martine4@gmail.com

Matching the Risk rDNA HGH • Minimal and low risk • minimal if biohazards could be accurately assessed and were expected to be minimal. • Low risk if novel biotypes but not • change ecological behavior of the recipient species, • increase significantly its pathogenicity or • prevent treatments of any resulting infections. martine4@gmail.com

Minimal Risk Containment • Prokaryotes, bacteriophages and other plasmids, experiments could be performed in minimal risk containment facilities when the construction of recombinant DNA molecules and their propagation involved prokaryotic agents that were known to exchange genetic information naturally • Additionally, purified DNA from any source that performed known functions and was judged to be non-toxic could be cloned with available vectors in low risk containment facilities Bacteriophage T4 infecting an e. coli host martine4@gmail.com

Moderate and High Risk • The moderate risk level of containment if significant potential for pathogenicity or ecological disruption. • High-risk containment if a serious biohazard to laboratory personnel or to the public. • DNAs of species that result in new metabolic pathways in species, use moderate or high-risk containment martine4@gmail.com

Asilomar Guidance Relevant to Bio-Nano Nano-neuron Unless the organism made a dangerous product, recombinant DNAs from cold-blooded vertebrates and all other lower eukaryotes could be constructed and propagated with the safest vector-host system available in low risk containment facilities. martine4@gmail.com

Self-Replicating Nanotech Are Like Asilomar Low-Risk Examples • A mech analog of a rDNA • Not banned if not toxic • “Low-Risk” because novel biotype but doesn’t change ecology or  pathogenicity • Changing the nature of an uninhabited world doesn’t count as changing ecology • Not “Minimum Risk” because unnatural replication method • Not “Moderate” or “High” Risk since not high potential for pathogenicity, ecological harm or biohazard martine4@gmail.com

So, What Rules Needed for Self-Replicating Nanobots? • Use of biological barriers to limit harm • Biological nanobots should fail-safe disable in atmosphere • Robotic nanobots should fail-safe disable in biochemistry • Planetary nanobots should fail-safe disable by - gravitaxis martine4@gmail.com

Autonomous v. Non-Autonomous Self-Replication • Non-Autonomous Self-Replication Is Feasible When Real-Time Human Control Exists • Autonomous Self-Replication Is Needed for Galactic Missions • Line Between Non-Autonomous and Autonomous Very Blurry When AI Agents Assist Humans In Effecting Control martine4@gmail.com

Dr. O’Neill: Less Than 500K Years to Colonize Galaxy My concept of such a probe is that it would go to another star system, neighboring the original one. It would use the asteroidal material available there. In a period of a few years, it would replicate itself. It would then leave one of itself at that star and move off to the next star and so on. As it went, it would establish two-way communication, point-to-point, not a broadcast at all, but from one of these replicator probes to the next. You can work out the numbers, and it turns out that by any reasonable standards such a probe system could cover essentially every star in the galaxy within a time of no more than half a million years. martine4@gmail.com

O’Neill Galactic Colonization • Clearly Requires Autonomous Self-Replication of Machines • Why Not Include Uploaded Minds In Each Probe, Including Instructions for Creating Nano or Nano-Bio Bodies? • Ergo, Galactic HUMAN Colonization Requires Autonomous Self-Replication martine4@gmail.com

Asilomar Will Need to be Segmented for Galactic Colonization • Planetary Replicator Probes Need to be Able to Blast Off the Planet • Robotic Nanobots Need to Co-Exist in Nano-Bio Bodies for Downloaded Minds of Colonists • Biological Nanobots May Need to Survive ex vivo for the Ecology martine4@gmail.com

Bottom Line • Asilomar is Common Sense: • Self-Replicating Objects Should be Contained from Causing Harm While Free to Do Good • Each Case By Its Specific Facts martine4@gmail.com

Going Forward • Self-Replicating Nanotech Covered by Asilomar Regime • Same Issues, • New Substrate • Asilomar Regime Must Be Segmented for Galactic Colonization • We Can Extend Our Lives with Nanotech Bodies, Nanomedicine & World-Building martine4@gmail.com

Application of Asilomar Guidelines to Self-Replicating Machines