Life and Its Future

Recently novel forms of life have been discussed by astronomers, physicists and experts for artificial intelligence. According to these ideas the brain should be replaced by a super-intelligent machine. Even completely inorganic organisms have been proposed. In our book we discuss these issues from a biological point of view. We start with a review of current knowledge of the origin of life and biological evolution. In our view a completely different pathway based on inorganic chemistry is highly improbable or impossible. Coupling of the brain with computers was however already achieved and progress in this direction appears to be possible. Attempts to construct so-called artificial organisms such as bacteria by chemical synthesis of genes are in progress. If successful this will open many ways of manipulation. A driving force for the invention of new organisms is the idea that severe man-made risks can be prevented by the new techniques. Visions are the possibility of migration of humans to other stars, with the hope that the human genes can be saved from elimination. Also commercial interests play a big role. The second part of our book deals with these problems. We hope that our book will help to clarify the pros and cons of a novel interdisciplinary research field.