AI and synthetic genomics are making it possible to design new species from scratch. This generative biology revolution could eradicate disease and extend the human lifespan – but it also raises profound questions about human nature, ethics and our responsibility to safeguard the future.
On 1 July 1858, members of the Linnean Society of London gathered for a special meeting. They were there to witness the presentation of three papers on the mechanism of evolution that would fundamentally reshape humanity’s understanding of its place in the world. The ideas of the authors, the explorer-naturalist Charles Darwin and adventurer Alfred Russel Wallace – neither of whom were present – would end up changing our view of life and its origins for ever.
Their message was disarmingly simple. Living species – from the humblest microbes to tulips, beetles, hyenas and humans – were not the fixed, flawless, and inevitable handiwork of divine creation. They were the products of a slow and relentless process of evolution by natural selection. Heredity, rather than God, determined the nature of living things.
This process of natural engineering, which has defined life on Earth for approximately four billion years, might have been expected to continue indefinitely. But this evolutionary narrative is about to be turned on its head. This is because the convergence of artificial intelligence – which promises to reveal the rules of the generative grammar of life – with technologies for constructing the genomes of species has made it possible to contemplate designing new species from scratch.
Join Adrian Woolfson to explore how AI and synthetic biology are reshaping life itself – and discover the ethical and ecological choices that will shape our future.
We are at the threshold of a new era – one in which the blind, directionless process of evolution by natural selection may be augmented, perhaps even surpassed, by artificial evolution. This deliberate, predictive process of artificial species generation – ‘artivolution’ – will allow for the intentional, human and machine-inspired design of novel species, potentially unlocking a generative biology revolution.
For now, our capabilities are rudimentary. We have managed to piece together the genomes of a few simple organisms – viruses, bacteria and a yeast – but we will soon be able to construct those of more complex creatures. Eventually, we might even write out the genome of our own species. Along the way, we may resurrect prehistoric species like the woolly mammoth and more recently extinct creatures, like the dodo, great auk and Morant’s blue butterfly.
We might also write out the genomes of extinct human species. Even more intriguingly, artivolution may allow us to create species that have never previously existed.
We may resurrect prehistoric species like the woolly mammoth and more recently extinct creatures, like the dodo, great auk and Morant’s blue butterfly.
With the assistance of AI and a chemical ‘printing press’ capable of rendering the genome sequences of species as if they were the texts of books, our ability to manipulate life’s structures could become virtually limitless. Free from the constraints of chance and natural selection, we would no longer need to reference nature’s blueprints. We could begin to narrate new designs. In so doing, we would become the authors of species.
It is not difficult to imagine a future in which any possible organism could be constructed, and where our understanding of human biology becomes so refined that we may comprehend most aspects of its functioning. This would revolutionise how we approach human dysfunction, potentially making disease a thing of the past. The realisation of this vision will be driven by Artificial Biological Intelligence (ABI) – the ability to predict, generate, construct and boot up the genomes of all possible species.
The attainment of ABI will represent a critical milestone in the history of the biological sciences. Its realisation is likely to become biology’s North Star, signalling the moment when biology transitions from a descriptive science into a predictive engineering discipline. The announcement, in September 2025, of the first AI-designed synthetic virus is the harbinger of this emerging future.
It is not difficult to imagine a future where our understanding of human biology becomes so refined that we may comprehend most aspects of its functioning. This would revolutionise how we approach human dysfunction, potentially making disease a thing of the past.
Rewriting the human genome may be the only practical way to prevent and cure many devastating diseases. Yet this would raise profound ethical issues and risk impinging on the fabric of human nature itself.
The attainment of ABI will represent a critical milestone in the history of the biological sciences. Its realisation is likely to become biology’s North Star, signalling the moment when biology transitions from a descriptive science into a predictive engineering discipline. The announcement, in September 2025, of the first AI-designed synthetic virus is the harbinger of this emerging future.
Were artificial genome design to contribute significantly to species generation, Darwinian evolution by natural selection would no longer be the sole originator of biodiversity. Nature’s menagerie would then be complemented by artificial species, designed and synthesised with human intent. Over time, heredity might become marginalised. The ability to master biology’s language will shake the very foundations of the concept of a species.
The introduction of synthetic species into natural ecosystems does, however, present substantial risks. The continuous evolution of natural species complicates our ability to predict their interactions with artificial species. Synthetic organisms may employ entirely new chemistries that introduce unfamiliar and unpredictable behaviours into living systems.
Following this potential historic pivot to artificial life, the period when natural selection was the sole driver of species generation would reach its conclusion. Natural heredity would be marginalised. The attainment of ABI would represent the apotheosis of humankind’s understanding of its own nature and might allow us to contemplate rewriting our own genome.
This has the potential to greatly extend the human healthspan and lifespan, and to eradicate diseases that have afflicted humanity for millennia. Rewriting the human genome may be the only practical way to prevent and cure many devastating diseases. Yet this would raise profound ethical issues and risk impinging on the fabric of human nature itself.
Following the potential attainment of ABI, future organisms – perhaps even alternative versions of humankind – could become programmable. Designed on computer screens, their blueprints would be encoded in digital biochemical software. Unlike gene editing, which modifies pre-existing genetic material, this new mode of species generation would allow life to go beyond nature’s narratives. Organisms could be engineered to order, converted into living machines with multiple potential utilities.
We are entering a new age of generative biology, defined by a technological revolution the likes of which we have never seen before. It stands poised to fundamentally redefine our relationship with natural biology, and to impact nearly every aspect of human existence – from food security and climate change to healthcare, information storage, energy production, biomaterials, biocomputing and ecosystem preservation.
The convergence of AI-informed genome design and synthetic genomics offers immense opportunities, but also has the potential to cause catastrophic harm. The attainment of ABI will present an existential challenge to humanity, as the ability to rewrite our own genetic code could fundamentally alter – or erase – human nature as we know it. ABI is also vulnerable to misuse and may introduce unanticipated bias into species design.
The writing and rewriting of genomes may, however, paradoxically help to safeguard humanity from the potentially greater existential risks posed by Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) – a hypothetical form of artificial intelligence that may eventually surpass natural human intelligence.
With the unprecedented power that ABI might potentially convey comes great responsibility. The prospect of ABI compels us to confront profound questions about humankind’s future. What kind of world do we wish to create, and at what point does human nature cease to be ‘natural’? How can we ensure that these technologies would be used safely, ethically and wisely?
The question is no longer whether we can redesign life, but when – and whether we should. What limits and safeguards should we place on these activities to protect humanity, other natural species, and the very fabric of human nature itself: free will, conscience, empathy, morality and intellectual liberty?
We are living at a remarkable moment in history, where the convergence of AI and synthetic genomics is poised to close the loop between genetics and culture. Heredity, long the dominant force of biological nature, is now being directly challenged, placing the relevance of natural biological history at risk.
Adrian Woolfson is a geneticist and author. This is an edited extract from his forthcoming book – On the Future of Species – which is published by Bloomsbury.
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