Stem Cells as we know it are cells that if given the proper stimuli could evolve into another type of cell. Recent researches proves that we can now grow human tissues on a petri dish. This is a quantum leap in medicine and might have at least reduced our fears of dying if we lose our vital organs because of diseases or because of accidents. It just so amazing that stem cells were recently found in our skins and can readily be used to recreate our own body parts if given the necessary stimuli.
Perhaps we can even take our recent knowledge to next level by learning how cells communicate with each other which perhaps can be found in our DNA. Another theory although the possibility is very remote is we may be able to discover a signal within this complicated signalling between cells that should enable us to predict accurately human behavior. This could again spark another big controversy but probably not in our lifetime. Just imagine if we can invent a machine that could predict our behavior accurately? That’s absolutely an invasion of our privacy. I really don’t want anybody tracking what will be my future behavior would be. It’s just absolutely immoral. But looking at the brighter side, we use that knowledge to prevent crimes and absolutely can learn the real truth. In that era, lying is already a thing of the past since that machine can not just only predict human behavior but can read our memories just like a computer reading its hard disk. And a compute as we know it will display on the screen whatever data it retrieves from the hard disk and does not know how to lie. And perhaps in that era, humans can already choose to alter themselves like if they want to live like mermaids and establish a civilization in our vast ocean or they may choose to have wings to enable them to fly. Things might have gone so wild probably.
Reverse engineering (RE) is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object or system through analysis of its structure, function and operation. With this in mind, if we are able to reverse engineer the cell, can we reverse engineer the brain? The answer probably is yes if we are lucky. But I doubt if the human race can do this in our lifetime given the fact that we hardly know how the cell works. The human brain is the only most sophisticated organic computing machine that controls the central nervous system (CNS), by way of the cranial nerves and spinal cord, the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and regulates virtually all human activity and as we all know it, it is made entirely of very complicated networks of cells. I hope I am wrong, Ray Kurzweil seems to be very optimistic. Watch his video below.
A cellular automaton is a collection of “colored” cells on a grid of specified shape that evolves through a number of discrete time steps according to a set of rules based on the states of neighboring cells. The rules are then applied iteratively for as many time steps as desired. von Neumann was one of the first people to consider such a model, and incorporated a cellular model into his “universal constructor.” Cellular automata were studied in the early 1950s as a possible model for biological systems (Wolfram 2002, p. 48). Comprehensive studies of cellular automata have been performed by S. Wolfram starting in the 1980s, and Wolfram’s fundamental research in the field culminated in the publication of his book A New Kind of Science (Wolfram 2002) in which Wolfram presents a gigantic collection of results concerning automata, among which are a number of groundbreaking new discoveries.
This AI approach is very similar to what Ken Richardson described in his book “The Making of Intelligence” regarding the algorithm of Intelligent Systems just as I wrote in my previous post.
So if we use this approach to mimmic the way living organisms are formed, think and act and if we like to create artificial homo sapiens, then each cell will need probablly 10mb of memory space, the human body is composed of 100 trillion cells, and processing power of 1000 terahertz, I would say it is far too impossible but I guess, the result would be the exact replica of ourselves theoretically. Perhaps when quantum computing is reality, then perhaps, we are a step closer to our grandest dream.
Every living organism starts with just two cells the sperm and the egg cells. These two cells when combined together in the process called fertilization, leads to a start of chemical reaction that will last a lifetime. This chemical reaction is not driven by a random sequence of explosion that leads to the formation of one type of cell to another. It rather follows a sequence which is so intelligently designed. This information as we all know it is found in the DNA. And that is the real mystery until now. Who designed the DNA or where did it come from? Gee…it is so weird isn’t it?
That code in the DNA is a complex recipe that does not only contains the amount of chemicals needed to form different types of cells but the exact time and locations where this chemical reaction should take place as well. Each chemical reactions are executed and intelligently carried out with precision. But then it is not perfect. This imperfection gives rise to cancer diseases or sometimes leads to strange births like the famous snake with two heads. This explains why until now, there is no definite cure of cancer since its origin is from that imperfection. So probably, the creator can also be assumed that he is not perfect? Well, I don’t know the answer. But his creation already impressed me.
Cells as we know it is responsible for the formation of our body, our flesh, our tissues. Understanding it completely is still a major challenge even the smartest men that our race has produced still not able to decrypt the mysteries. How interesting really this area of science is and its discovery is perhaps the most important event in our civilization’s history. Understanding it completely can lead to a lot of major breakthroughs in science. Perhaps new breed of humans will rule the planet having special abilities that could make them invincible and indestructible just like Wolverine in X-Men.
This is not a science fiction. This video of Alan Russell (he studies regenerative medicine — a breakthrough way of thinking about disease and injury, using a process that can signal the body to rebuild itself) just demonstrate how primitive our current understanding of the cell but I think it is a demonstration that our body needs some stimulant to accelerate its Regenerative System.
Stem Cells is one type of cell that can stand out among other types of cells because it has the potential to develop into many different cell types in the body. It is the most sought after in the field of medicine because it is believed to be the best cure agent for repairing damaged tissues or organs or perhaps with stem cells it will enable doctors to grow tissues in test tubes.
But this area of science is still on a primitive stage because as I have mentioned our expertise on how cell process, stores, receives, transfer information and how cells communicate with each other is still primitive. The primary reason why is we lack the tools and intelligence to understand such phenomenon but if we are able to develop an Artificial Life that is so intelligent, then probably we can make it to assist us understand this complex processes.
Cells as we all know is the most basic biological machine that enables life to thrive in our world. And yet until today, just like what I have been mentioning over and over, we still know so little about it. It is in our modern time that we are slowly beginning to tinker with it in order for us to understand the complex processes that I believe is still so incomprehensible that it performs. Some people that used to be atheiest like Antony Flew has turned away from Atheism upon learning about the latest findings about how and what informations contained within these cells. It must have made them believe that this information with the cells is to impossible that it was created by chance, it is just way too impossible, is it? To give you more insights, this website about Information and Natural Processes will explain further about what I am talking about and watch this video to know more about our DNA:
Ken Richardson has described in his book “The Making of Intelligence” how DNA, genes, cells and proteins make up an organism and their roles in its development but never attempted to discuss how the DNA was formed. As he has described based on my own understanding, before conception, the egg cell has all the instructions it needs (it is composed of the genes and the genes contains the DNA, outside the genes are several types of proteins and all other elements needed for the development of the organism) to develop as an organism but it does not have an energy to perform its task. It needs something from outside to initiate the process and of course, the initiator would be the sperm cell. So, when the sperm cell enters the egg, then the process begins. The egg cell begins processing by taking in more proteins and therefore some kind of energy is stored in it and the genes inside it begin to replicate themselves and when the energy grows, the cell begin to subdivide itself. Although the cells are identical, they are still distinctively different and somehow have different characters. This difference in characters exists and is caused mainly by the genes. The two cells communicate with each other constantly and begin to produce different types of proteins(different types of proteins tends to react and combined with other elements and substances differently) and continues to accumulate energy to supply the ongoing replication process that the genes are undertaking inside them and each cells subdivides again and this process continues until they form the organism’s heads, tails, vital body parts and into a fully developed organism. The subdivision process does not happen by accident. There must be a system that they follow and this is found in the DNA. The cells binds with other cells constantly socializing and they form some kind of community. Each cell is unique and having its own character and somehow produces a slightly different type of proteins. The variations of proteins produced and the similarity of the cells’ characters is the main factor that would make several cells stay close to one another and they form a community. Several commnunities are formed and each one of these have distinct characteristics and are also interacting with other communities and the grouping is again based on the similarities of characteristics and the type of protein they produce until they form the different parts of the organisms but the process does not stop there. It continues until the organism reaches adulthood when the cells stop reproducing if the consideration is for this single living thing alone but as it grows and reproduce then the process never stops because it was passed on to its siblings and as time goes on, there are changes in the environments so this process somehow needs to adapt to these changes. But for us humans, the changes in our environments is not the only factor that contributes to our capability to adapt as we accumulate more knowledge, and our need to find cures to diseases or even our quest for immortality could trigger the alteration to these processes.
With this kind of idea and understanding how organisms are formed, perhaps a computer software can be produced mimicking this process. Perhaps this is the basis of nanotechnology as featured in the film Virtuosity. Amazing isn’t it? What amazes me even more is how the DNA was first formed. Mankind has already began tweaking the DNA and there is even an experiment that manufacturing several human tissues and organs is possible just by stimulating the cell to subdivide and form the desired tissues or organs but they have not yet at least provided enough information how the DNA and the information that it contains first came into existence. It’s a big question isn’t it?
If we develop expertise on how cells process information and communicate with other cells, then Organic Computation can become a reality. I think I would disagree with Craig Venter when he said that once we are able to decode our DNA completely then we can create true AI and true AI means we are capable of digitizing life perfectly, because it is just not enough to know the intricate design of the cells which include the DNA. This portion is just about 30% of the knowledge required to understanding the most advance technology of them all.
But suppose we have come to that point when we are able to completely understand this technology, what are the possible applications that can be developed out of this newly found knowledge?
Let me enumerate them:
Downloading of our thoughts. Yes, that can be possible, if the theory is correct that if we are able to digitize our brain perfectly, then this brain is an exact copy of our mind.
We can choose to modify our own body. People may choose to have wings to enable them to fly, or have gills in order for them to breath underwater.
We may never grow old and live forever. But the downside is, we are still us. Damn those imperfections.
Incurable diseases like cancer, brain tumors, aids, etc can be cured already.
Leading scientists have called on the government to support research to create hybrid human-animal embryos. 
Reverse engineering (RE) is the process of discovering the technological principles of a device, object or system through analysis of its structure, function and operation. With this in mind, if we are able to reverse engineer the cell, can we reverse engineer the brain? The answer probably is yes if we are lucky. But I doubt if the human race can do this in our lifetime given the fact that we hardly know how the cell works. The human brain is the only most sophisticated organic computing machine that controls the 
