Neo.Life: 25 Visions for the Future of Our Species is a book about the future of human beings, as viewed by some of today’s most creative minds working at the intersection of biology and technology. You’ll find essays, interviews, fiction, and visual art that explore the powerful new tools and ideas redefining the frontiers of our biology. Think of it as a guide to your future self.
We now have the means to transform ourselves and our species. This book captures today’s most daring, inventive, and thoughtful ideas as conceived by some of science’s biggest thinkers, entrepreneurs, writers, and artists. But it’s not a technical manuscript or a treatise on bioethics. Neo.Life is written in layman’s terms for people like you who care about our legacy and the world we’re building for our descendants.
“The lesson of evolution is that there’s constantly room for improvement.”—George Church
* Meet George Church, one of the most prodigious bioengineers of our time, in conversation with science fiction author Ramez Naam. George maintains a list of genes that could be edited to make humans healthier or more suited to future environmental conditions.
* Read Juan Enriquez, who has been thinking and writing about self-directed evolution for a long time. In his creative brief, he imagines a future with a far greater diversity of human species, and suggests we have a lot of work to do before that happens.
* Discover filmmaker and artist Lynn Hershman Leeson’s ideas about identity in her antibody-as-art project that will change how you think about life science technologies.
* Hear from Osh Agabi, the Nigerian roboticist/neuroscientist who’s built a brain on a chip, literally blending silicon and neurons. He envisions using his technology to allow us to connect our consciousnesses together in a sort of giant empathy web.
* Get to know neuroscientist Steve Ramirez, whose work suggests that humans might someday be able to reactivate lost memories, dampen negative ones, or even plant new ones—which could pave the way for targeted treatments for anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, or even Alzheimer’s disease.
* Ponder the risks and ethical implications of this new frontier with CRISPR scientist and film producer Samira Kiani, who outlines the safety checks she’s developing to control gene edits. And hear from biosecurity policy expert Megan Palmer, who shares how her experiences led to social responsibility programs for synthetic biologists.
And there’s so much more!
NEO.LIFE tracks the people, companies, and technologies that are transforming our bodies and our minds. Our beat includes the frontiers of genetics, neuroscience, longevity, synthetic biology, biohacking, future food, sex, and more. Founded by Jane Metcalfe, with Brian Bergstein as editor at large, we feature journalism you can trust from writers who have the experience to understand the science and take the time to get it right. We offer a unique perspective that looks out across multiple scientific disciplines, but also includes the world of food, science fiction, and cultural developments. You can find all this published in our newsletter, on our website, and through our social feeds.
After two years of digital publishing, we came to the conclusion that the people and technologies we’re covering are too important, too powerful, and too foundational to just go flying through your inbox.
So we decided to make a book (yay, print!). And we need your help in bringing it to life.
Jane Metcalfe is the cofounder (with Louis Rossetto) of Wired magazine, the legendary media company that wrote the first draft of the history of the digital revolution. Under Jane and Louis’s leadership, the magazine grew to an internationally renowned brand and a diversified media company featuring US, UK, and Japanese editions, a book division, and a television show. In addition, Wired launched HotWired, the first online original content featuring Fortune 500 advertising, inventing the advertising banner along the way (no we didn’t patent it, yes we did talk about it). There was also HotBot, at the time, the fastest search engine in the world, The Webbys recently acknowledged Jane and Louis with a Lifetime Achievement Award for their vision and impact.
After selling the company to Condé Nast and Lycos, Jane made a number of angel investments, including a big one in TCHO Chocolate, where she eventually served as president, and which got her thinking about the effects of theobromine on the brain and heart, sacred plants, nutraceuticals, organic farming, food systems, etc.
Brian Bergstein is a science and technology writer and editor. He was, for many years, the executive editor of MIT Technology Review. Before that he worked for the Associated Press, as its national technology correspondent and then the technology and media editor. He completed a Knight Fellowship for Science and Technology Journalism at MIT, and earlier journalism studies at Northwestern University. Brian has an extensive network of writers to tap and a unique overview of both life sciences and technology.
Our book designer is National Design Award winner and AIGA medalist Jennifer Morla, who published her own magnificent book on Kickstarter earlier this year. Jennifer is both an accomplished designer as well as a graphic artist, with clients including Apple, Design Within Reach, Levis, Stanford University, and Williams Sonoma.
Because we manifest what we imagine. So perhaps we should imagine a future we actually want to live in. This book is designed to spark the conversations that can guide our species as we decide which technologies to develop and deploy.
We asked some of today’s most knowledgeable and creative researchers and artists to outline a future we can rally for rather than fear. This book captures their moods, dreams, and aspirations. We hope that it will encourage people to think about what is possible, from eliminating genetically inherited diseases to preserving our memories as we age to having the perfect orgasm. We invite readers to try these ideas on, and talk about how it feels. Because the choices we make now will determine how our god-like tools will be used in the future.
And no matter what operating systems or platforms will be operational 25 years from now, this book will remain as a physical artifact, a testament to our hopes and dreams about where these tools can take us.
You can back the book at the regular price, and we’ll love you for that! Or you can be an early bird supporter, and get a 15% discount if you pledge within the first 24 hours of our launch (January 13, 2020 at noon PT/3:00 PM ET!)
If you can’t shell out for the full book, just $5 will get you a personalized thank you email from Jane. Or, consider pledging at the $10 reward level and receive 10 digital graphics, each one featuring a different big idea from the book. Better yet, for just $25, you’ll get the digital graphics plus an eBooklet of Dreams. It is the job of artists to be unreasonable and to ask provocative questions. The “Dreams” section of the book features visual art and fiction from Lynn Hershman Leeson, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Danny Hillis, and Hannu Rajaniemi. You’ll miss having the timeless quality of the printed artifact, along with the conversation between George Church and Ramez Naam, the essay by Juan Enriquez, and all the other Creative Briefs and Product Road Maps. But you’ll have a little digital slice of the neobiological frontier. Available as an EPUB or MOBI file.
With the holidays are over, many of us are making fresh dietary choices in the new year. Citizen scientist and NEO.LIFE contributor Richard Sprague, who tested his own microbiome more than 600 times, is now wearing a continuous glucose monitor. He can tell you the inside scoop about the products he uses, what he’s learned, and how you can start hacking your own microbiome. ($250) NOTE: This is for educational purposes only, and does not represent medical care. NO LONGER AVAILABLE.
Want to have all your questions answered about CRISPR gene editing? Meet CRISPR scientist and film producer Samira Kiani and find out what we need to do to make CRISPR safer and more effective. Learn about her research and her film projects. ($750)
We also want to meet you and we love to eat! So for those of you who also love big ideas over dinner, join Neo.Life coeditor Jane Metcalfe and designer Jennifer Morla in San Francisco for a gourmet meal and conversation about science, design, and culture. ($2,000)
And for you big spenders with a passion for science and medicine, sign up for a meeting and lab tour with Dr. Robert Green, a Harvard/Brigham and Women’s Hospital researcher who can sequence your genome (WGS) and decipher what is in your DNA. It’s also a chance to learn how preventive genomics can revolutionize medicine, moving us from a treatment-based approach to 21st century-style prevention. This is a rare opportunity not to be missed for those who want to understand more about themselves and the future of health. ($5,000) NOTE: This is for educational purposes only, and does not represent medical care.
The book has gone to press, and will be ready to ship when our Kickstarter campaign ends February 14, 2020. You’ll receive your book as soon as your credit cards and mailing addresses are sorted but to be on the safe side, we’re saying it will ship in March.
Concept and creation: Jane Metcalfe (founder), Brian Bergstein (editor at large), and Laura Cochrane (content strategist), NEO.LIFE. Book design: Jennifer Morla, principal, Morla Design. Book printing: Phoenix Color. Video: Jason Tongen. Media and Kickstarter campaign: Bradley Hughes (art director), Reymundo Perez III (graphic designer), Rachel Masters (marketing); Steve Kroeter and Stephanie Salomon, Designers & Books (consultation).
Thank you for being a curious pioneer whose support will help us bring this book and these ideas to the world.
We have invested considerable time and money in the making of “Neo.Life: 25 Visions for the Future of Our Species.” It has already gone to press and will be delivered to our community backers. While the team does not expect any issues to arise, there is always the possibility of delays in shipping due to unforeseen challenges during fulfillment.