DNA as the Original Blockchain – Article by Alex Lightman
Alex Lightman
I think of DNA as the original Blockchain, code for 3D printing a billion years old.
Thinking of DNA as reusable software might enable us to increase our average life span by 800%.
If you think of DNA as code and don’t get distracted by phenotypes (appearances) and remember the First Rule of Engineering is “Steal, Don’t Invent”, you can find some pretty interesting code that is almost human.
Did you know that there are big mammals that can live over 200 years? And sharks that can live 400-600 years?
Mammals are all genetically over 98% the same DNA (the biological Blockchain) as Homo sapiens sapiens (humans).
One mammal able to live over 200 years is the Bowhead whale. The Greenland shark is known to live over 400 years. Sharks are not mammals, but you would be shocked at the genetic similarity. Start here to learn more.
I think we should breed vast herds of Bowhead whales and Greenland sharks and domesticate them in Seastead Communities, and maintain multi-century interspecies communication, based on the protocols developed by my old friend John Lilly, inventor of the isolation tank.
We have already identified the genetic components of longevity, which include high resistance to cancer.
Did you know this? This is why we need Transhumanist Party candidates and elected officials: we should be talking about and focused on life expectancy and cancer resistance. Half of Americans get cancer and half of those die of cancer – over 600,000 a year!
Genetic Causes of Longevity in Bowhead Whales
It was previously believed the more cells present in an organism, the greater the chances of mutations that cause age-related diseases and cancer.
Although the bowhead whale has thousands of times more cells than other mammals, the whale has a much higher resistance to cancer and aging. In 2015, scientists from the US and UK were able to successfully map the whale’s genome.
Through comparative analysis, two alleles that could be responsible for the whale’s longevity were identified.
These two specific gene mutations linked to the Bowhead whale’s ability to live longer are the ERCC1 gene and the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) gene. ERCC1 is linked to DNA repair as well as increased cancer resistance. PCNA is also important in DNA repair.
These mutations enable bowhead whales to better repair DNA damage, allowing for greater resistance to cancer.
The whale’s genome may also reveal physiological adaptations such as having low metabolic rates compared to other mammals.
Changes in the gene UCP1, a gene involved in thermoregulation, can explain differences in the metabolic rates in cells.
Alex Lightman, Campaign Director for the California Transhumanist Party, has 25 years of management and social innovation experience and 15 years of chairman and chief executive experience. He is an award-winning inventor with multiple U.S. patents issued or pending and author of over one million published words, including the first book on 4G wireless, and over 150 articles in major publications. He chaired and organized 17 international conferences with engineers, scientists, and government officials since 2002, with the intention of achieving policy breakthroughs related to innovation. He is a world-class innovator and recipient of the first Economist magazine Readers’ Choice Award for “The Innovation that will Most Radically Change the World over the Decade 2010 to 2020” (awarded Oct. 21, 2010, out of 4,000 initial suggestions and votes over 5 months from 200 countries, and from 32 judges). He is the recipient of the 2nd Reader’s Award (the posthumous recipient announced 10/21/2011 was Steve Jobs). He is also the winner of the only SGI Internet 3D contest (both Entertainment and Grand Prize) out of 800 contestants.
Social innovation work includes repeatedly putting almost unknown technologies and innovation-accelerating policies that can leverage the abilities of humanity into the mainstream of media, business, government, foundations, and standards bodies, including virtual reality, augmented reality, Internet Protocol version 6, and 4G wireless broadband, open spectrum, technology transfer to developing countries, unified standards, crowd-sourcing, and collective intelligence, via over 40 US government agencies, over 40 national governments, and via international entities including the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Political credentials include a national innovation plan entitled “The Acceleration of American Innovation” for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, work for U.S. Senator Paul E. Tsongas (D-MA) and on several state campaigns and U.S. presidential campaigns for Democratic candidates (Gary Hart, Richard Gephardt), presentations to the United Nations, and advisory services to the governments of Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, Australia, Philippines, Japan, China, Korea, and India, as well as to the U.S. Congress, the White House (via the Office of Management and Budget), the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Defense Information Systems Agency, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Mr. Lightman is trained as an engineer at MIT and as a prospective diplomat and policy analyst at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.