Communications of the ACM

type of computer—from biologically engineered components. Sauro points out that all biological systems have reactants bouncing around and colliding with one another, all of which produces “noise.” Evolution exploits this noise, but it is also possible it could be used to compute information. “It’s an open issue about whether there is any advantage to building a computer from biological systems,” Sauro points out.

For now, synthetic biology is marching forward. Over the next couple of decades, Gibson says the technology will usher in huge changes in medicine, biofuel, nutrition, agriculture, and more. “We are taking 4 billion years of evolution and decoding how the biological processes work on a genome. … Right now, we have only a small section of the overall code. In the computing world, we would not have enough to boot up the computer. But in the biological world, we have now built pieces of DNA large enough that we can produce self-replicating cells. This gives us the opportunity to bang on the problem and find tailored applications.”

DNA by Design

Synthetic biology and genetic re-engineering also introduce ethical and moral questions. Designer dogs many elicit concern, but designer humans fall into an entirely different category. Should parents be allowed to choose characteristics they desire for children—say, blue eyes, or a more muscular physique? Should some parents ( essentially those who are more affluent) have access to a technology that allows them to produce babies that are more likely to live longer? What if someone decides to weaponize or sabotage genes in order to introduce disease or cause other problems?

“We should not be dismissive of
the potential consequences, includ-
ing ecological fallout, of the technol-
ogy,” Church says. “Oftentimes, we
think we understand a system and
later discover that we really don’t un-
derstand it.” Nevertheless, he is opti-
mistic about synthetic biology and its
potential impact on the planet. “We
slog along and often find we are bet-
ter off with the technology than with-
out it. With programmable biology,
there are opportunities to make life
and the world better.”
Adds Lu: “Those who work in the
field understand the need to monitor
and surveil the technology so that it
is not used in nefarious ways. There
is now a huge emphasis on ethics
and safety.”
One of the biggest questions is how
genetic modifications will play out over
time in the real world. Although it is
theoretically possible for a gene to mu-
tate in an unintended way and intro-
duce dangers and risks, it is far more
likely that, as genetically designed
genes become part of the natural en-
vironment and succumb to evolution,
they will eventually fizzle out and lose
their characteristics. “These organ-
isms are usually just a little bit ‘sick’
because we are taking up resources
that should be used for growth,” Lu ex-
plains. “If they can shake off the engi-
neered piece, they’re happier. So, over
multiple generations, the beautiful,
engineered component may go away;
the organism jettisons the engineered
parts in order to grow faster.”
Another question is whether scien-
tists can construct more elaborate sys-
tems—basically, a new and different

ACM
Member
News

SCHRÖDER LEAVES MASSAGE FOR COMPUTER GRAPHICS

Peter Schröder,
professor of
computer
science and
applied and
computational
mathematics at
the California Institute of
Technology (Cal Tech), grew up
in Germany. There, he worked as
a massage therapist, until a
transformative experience
altered his path.

“In 1984, a friend turned me on to Tron, the science fiction movie, if you’re old enough to remember it,” says Schröder.

“I had to find out how they did
that; I had to just know.”
Shortly after seeing the
movie, Schröder learned of
ACM SIGGRAPH. He signed up
for the SIGGRAPH conference,
and took a mathematics and
computer graphics course there
that changed the trajectory of
his career.

Schröder resumed his education, first at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, then returning to Germany to earn his undergraduate degree in computer science and pure mathematics from the Technical University of Berlin. In 1990, he earned a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and then a Ph. D. in computer science from Princeton University in 1994. After a year of post-doctoral research at the University of South Carolina, he joined Caltech in 1995, and has been there ever since.

Schröder, a pioneer in geometry processing, in 2003 received the ACM SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics Achievement Award in recognition of his work in the use of hierarchical methods in geometry processing.

“The big theme of my
work right now is discreet
differential geometry. I focus
on the underlying machinery
and computer graphics, which
is great for students,” explains
Schröder. “They get more
motivated when they see fun
pictures coming out of it.”
—John Delaney