Share your genes
From Biohack
Digital gene sharing is the concept of uploading sequences of DNA (perhaps as biobricks, but not necessarily a completely formalized biobrick, since this can get complicated) and sharing it with the rest of the world. Here's how the biosphere used to operate: DNA sequences would be transferred from one cell to another, and these units of functionality could be expressed and if it allowed the organism to continue living and reproducing, then those children who retain the sequence are those out of the entire population that survive. However, with biohacking and the ability to synthesize DNA via oligonucleotides, as well as with the advent of the internet (cyberspace), it is now possible to post up a single copy of a gene and have it copied many times unlike in the natural course of evolution. This is somewhat like a new form of reproduction.
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Why should I share my genes?
Not necessarily your genes, but the genes from your ecoli farm or other operations that you are running. The more you trade, the better the code becomes. The internet exposes the gene to potentially millions of hungry minds that are eager to work on interesting problems, so those DNA sequences that do something interesting (or nearly interesting) will be those that are worked on. So, if you share your genes, you are going to get something in return. Note, however, that it is _not_ sharing if nobody downloades the gene, so some "digital genes" (ref 1) (sic.) will obviously not be so relevant.
And if you are interested in the $0 genomics project, the more power to you: feel free to upload your genome to the internet somewhere. Maybe the Internet Archive will want to be the first to begin archiving human genomes, or the Singularity Institute.
Where can I share my genes?
This website would be a good place to start. Edit the talk page and post up a few comments about your gene and we will see what we can do. There are no gene sharing portals on the internet yet, but this is the closest besides MIT parts database. Start your own blog, share your experience relating to the creation of the gene and your attempts to publicize it. And if you don't know how to do this, we can help. :)
Can this be profitable?
Somewhat, yes. First you have to become a well-known gene designer. Make some free gene sequences and show lots of evidence that they do what you claim, show photographs and logs and measurements from your instruments and get other individuals to sign off on the data too. Over time, you *will* become known in the community, and at that point you can start using a model of business where you complete your work and allow it to be released but at a price -- and once enough monetary contributions have taken place, then you can release the rest of the work. However, self-replication of the sorts that we are dealing with here -- with cultures of billions of organisms at a time -- can quite possibly bootstrap nanotechnology and lead to post-scarcity economics and this 'money' concept will not be as relevant as you might think it will be. (see overarching themes of the roadmap)
Left over notes
(ref 1) -- "Digital genes" is an old concept that remains because of genetic algorithms as well as simulations involving digital organisms, which was born out of the idea of internet creatures which are certainly not your typical daemons. It is important to make a distinction between digital genes and simulated genes, but the distinction will likely blur as advancements in protein folding are made.
