Speaking at O’Reilly Open Source Convention 2004, along with his son George, an historian of technology and author of Darwin Among the Machines: The Evolution of Global Intelligence, Dyson called biotech the “new art form of the 21st century.” He predicted that the domestication of biotechnology will open up creativity to millions of people, with do-it-yourself kits for gardeners and snake breeders, for example. “Kids will buy seeds or eggs and compete with friends on who can grow the prickliest cactus or cutest dinosaur,” Dyson said. He envisions low cost DNA synthesizers that teenagers will buy like iPods and GarageBand to exercise their creative genes.
