With the number of different social media interfaces that keep people connected, it’s not surprising that people are coming together at an increasing rate to work in collaboration. This, however, is a concept that has been in the scientific community since the beginning.  Take genetic engineering, for example.

Genetic engineers are literally just as their name suggests, engineers who work with genes. They are scientists who can essentially create new organisms, using smaller organisms such as yeast or bacteria, by changing the DNA sequence or expression within the creature. This allows them to create synthetic organisms that can do whatever they need, from smelling like bananas to creating electricity from sunlight.

These different attributes can literally be picked out of a database of DNA sequences that encode the desired function called the BioBrick and “snapped” together like Legos to create the desired affect. Literally, the protocol to generate an organism is to choose sequences of DNA, string them together, and insert them into the bacteria or yeast (of course, this is the highly simplified protocol).

Through this database of known sequences, scientists have been having much more successful results with more ease. This is only possible because of the collaboration seen among the scientific community in sharing the information they have learned in hopes of leading to a larger finding. Scientists take part in this endless progress, because it can lead to anything: from safe, clean batteries to banana smelling LCD screens.

The functionality is priceless, yet could be one day as easy as playing with Legos.

[via NYT]