The parallels between how the body encodes information with nucleotides and how computers encode information with binary zeros and ones are intriguing. What might this connection mean for our ability to build synthetic biological systems as we do currently with digital systems? With gene editing and writing, scientists are able to change a cell's genetic code to produce abilities beyond what our current biology allows.

In fact, Dr. George Church and his team of researchers have been able to use gene editing to make cells in the laboratory resistant to infection from all viruses. Could cell therapies confer this total viral resistance in humans in the future? In this clip, Dr. George Church discusses how revolutionary technologies such as multiplex genome editing and genome writing could make this and other advances in human health possible.