“The most outstanding feature of life’s history is a constant domination by bacteria.”
-Stephen Jay Gould
Over the course of billions of years, our ancestors coevolved with the trillions upon trillions of bacteria on our planet. Bacteria play a central role for life on earth. Every creature on earth evolved from bacteria, and the fate of every creature on earth is intertwined with the bacteria in its ecosystem.
Much like the first human who contemplated growing food rather than foraging for it, we at General Biotics see a tremendous shift around the corner.
Many of humanity’s current problems are caused by our limited ability to exert control at the smallest scales. If a surgeon could remove all the cancerous cells from a patient, cancer would be cured. No surgeon currently can, so we resort to indirect approaches like chemotherapy.
If we could easily remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, we would not have global warming. No one currently can, so we resort to indirect approaches like limiting carbon emissions.
Bacteria are the smallest forms of life currently known, able to directly manipulate molecules. To domesticate bacteria is to extend humanity’s will to the molecular level.
Our products are steps toward this vision, given the knowledge and technology currently available. The science is still early, the road is not yet paved, but one thing is certain: the destination will be grand.