Overview

A century ago, discoveries in physics came together with engineering to produce an array of astonishing new technologies: radios, telephones, televisions, aircraft, radar, nuclear power, computers, the Internet, and a host of still-evolving digital tools. These technologies so radically reshaped our world that we can no longer conceive of life without them. Today, the world's population is projected to rise to well over 9.5 billion by 2050, and we are currently faced with the consequences of producing the energy that fuels, heats, and cools us. With temperatures and sea levels rising, and large portions of the globe plagued with drought, famine, and drug-resistant diseases, we need new technologies to tackle these problems. But we are on the cusp of a new convergence, argues world-renowned neuroscientist Susan Hockfield, with discoveries in biology coming together with engineering to produce another array of almost inconceivable technologies—next-generation products that have the potential to be every bit as paradigm shifting as the twentieth century's digital wonders. The Age of Living Machines describes some of the most exciting new developments and the scientists and engineers who helped create them. Virus-built batteries. Protein-based water filters. Cancer-detecting nanoparticles. Mind-reading bionic limbs. Computer-engineered crops. Together they highlight the promise of the technology revolution of the twenty-first century to overcome some of the greatest humanitarian, medical, and environmental challenges of our time.

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Reviews

... entertaining and prescient... -- Science

Susan Hockfield's lively and authoritative book brings to life the bio revolution that is coming and that will dwarf the computer revolution in causing disruption--for better and worse.--Ashton B. Carter, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, and MIT Innovation Fellow Beautifully captures the science and the stories underpinning the convergence of biology and engineering as a transformative 21st century enterprise. One of those stories--biologically organized batteries--addresses the clean energy revolution needed for mitigating climate change, capturing both of Hockfield's signature initiatives as MIT President.--Ernest J. Moniz, former U.S. Secretary of Energy Timely, provocative insights into ways the genomic and bioengineering revolution is likely to transform our world in the next half century as profoundly as computer chips powering the information revolution transformed the past 50 years.--Graham Allison, Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School, and author of Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap? Life sciences are at the doorstep of meeting the major challenges of our time: energy, food, water, and disease. Hockfield views this future through the eyes of scientists at the interface of engineering and biology in an exciting and enjoyable book.--Phillip A. Sharp, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT A highly readable and deeply informative look over the scientific horizon into a future where biology and engineering converge to offer extraordinary means to improve our world.--Drew Gilpin Faust, President Emerita and Lincoln Professor of History, Harvard University

Life sciences are at the doorstep of meeting the major challenges of our time: energy, food, water, and disease. Hockfield views this future through the eyes of scientists at the interface of engineering and biology in an exciting and enjoyable book. -- Phillip A. Sharp, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT Timely, provocative insights into ways the genomic and bioengineering revolution is likely to transform our world in the next half century as profoundly as computer chips powering the information revolution transformed the past 50 years. -- Graham Allison, Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School, and author of Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap? Beautifully captures the science and the stories underpinning the convergence of biology and engineering as a transformative 21st century enterprise. One of those stories-biologically organized batteries-addresses the clean energy revolution needed for mitigating climate change, capturing both of Hockfield's signature initiatives as MIT President. -- Ernest J. Moniz, former U.S. Secretary of Energy A highly readable and deeply informative look over the scientific horizon into a future where biology and engineering converge to offer extraordinary means to improve our world. -- Drew Gilpin Faust, President Emerita and Lincoln Professor of History, Harvard University Susan Hockfield's lively and authoritative book brings to life the bio revolution that is coming and that will dwarf the computer revolution in causing disruption-for better and worse. -- Ashton B. Carter, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, and MIT Innovation Fellow

Author Information

Susan Hockfield, Ph.D., president emerita and professor of neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was the first woman and first life scientist to lead MIT. She is a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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