WIRED VOL.14 FUTURE OF DEATH ISSUE
FUTURE OF DEATH
死の未来
インタビュー・執筆：
SCIENCE OF DEATH 死の科学 20の断章
・「クマムシは生きながら死ぬ」慶應義塾大学先端生命科学研究所 荒川和晴 特任准教授
・「知性のクラウド化と死からの開放」バイオヴェンチャー・MOLCURE CEO 小川隆
“11月25日発売の雑誌『WIRED』VOL.14の特集は「死の未来」。最先端のサイエンスとテクノロジーが、わたしたちの「生と死」を更新しようとしている。量子の世界やアーバンプランニングにおける「死」、ちゃんと悼むためのスタートアップなど、これからの「死」を考える。そのほかエドワード・スノーデンへの独占インタヴュー、Twitterのエヴァン・ウィリアムズが立ち上げたミディアムのヴィジョン、世界中の科学者が注目する量子コンピューター企業D-Waveや、量子マーケティングを実践するScanamindなど、今号も1歩先の未来がもりだくさん。2015年は、3月より隔月刊行予定。どうぞお楽しみに。”
Water bears live through death
I introduced an unique research to determine the boundary of the life and death by researching a microbe called ‘water bear’ conducted by Associate Professor Kazuharu Arakawa of Keio University's Institute for Advanced Biosciences. Sleeping in a state of cryptobiosis, water bears can survive in a deadly blast of radiation, extremely high pressure (6000 atmospheres), exceedingly high and low temperature (from minus 270 to 150 degrees celsius). Moreover in the state of cryptobiosis, all metabolic activity is halted, Water bears can suspend their lives. Using survey method of bioinformatics, Professor Kazuharu is trying to reveal the ultimate question of biology; What is life and death?
The mind-uploading technology releases us from death
A bio startup MOLCURE develops the "Drug discovery intelligence". Applying the next generation sequencing, bioinformatics and antibody engineering, they are developing the technology which helps designing effective antibody and maximizing drug efficacy. As a futuristic antibody “designer”, CEO Ryu Ogawa told me that like the way to design ultimate antibody, they might be able to develop the technology which enables to archive human’s intelligence.
He concluded if an intelligence without the body is possible, life and death will become meaningless in the future.
What I covered:
I covered the storytellers who have futuristic vision for life and death.
Why I covered:
The definition of life and death is the ultimate question of
biology and philosophy.
How did I cover it:
Looking for recent research on life and death, I surveyed various papers and books
and conducted interviews.