I had a short dream about a form of intelligent DNA this night and after waking up could not easily find anything regarding the idea on the net. The term IDNA was listed as the Irish Dental Nurses Association, captured by a few marketing companies and linked to videos by people who think that DNA proves that there has to be a creator of some sort. What I dreamed of was different from all three of the above. In my dream, I watched the birth of an organism that could willingly alter its own DNA. In my case, it turned out to be a hybrid of plants and humans.
The first part of the very short dream was about a few scientists asking a genetically altered plant for its permission to be used in the experiment of creating such a being. Its agreement was necessary since the plant would play a central role in the organism and one had to make sure that it accepted to be used in this way – with no feelings of revenge whatsoever. The plant was actually more than a single being, it consisted of many string-like parts and already had an intelligence comparable to a whole group of simple individuals. After a very short time of consultation, they agreed to the proposal.
The scientists initiated the alteration of the plant’s DNA and of course this is where things turned strange… The new organism did not mean harm but gained a certain consciousness about the different portions of its own DNA. It instantly knew or quickly probed what they were there for. And it immediately changed its form. When the scientists realized that things ran out of hand so quickly, they tried to pull the plug by killing the organism. But it had already understood parts of the human genome and had found a way to alter itself and infect one of the scientists.
A quick test showed that his DNA was now carrying a signature of the plant DNA, but nobody could be sure if the scientist was still in control or if the plant being inside of him would be controlling further steps from there onward. The infected scientist looked out of the laboratory window and imagined a world in which everything that lived on earth was part of a single being. He saw a chance for peace, and at the same time the possibility of everything dying all at once. This is where I woke up.
Excursion
I spent some hours today trying to think about how bad it would really be if we were all absorbed into a single creature. If it was of digital form, our memories would quite surely be stored for later use somewhere, half-way intact, but if it was of organic nature, the process could be drastically different. None of the existing immune systems would be able to fight such an organism, but if it conquered the world, what then?
Controlled evolution, driven by a single entity, would surely be a lot faster, but possibly a lot less diverse. And unavoidable errors and side-effects could lead to complete extinction of all life at any time. Such a being could for example create another organism or alter itself to embrace other technologies like telepathy, space travel etc. but if it was the only inhabitant, who would it communicate with and where or why would it want to go? Would it try to find the essence of it’s own power first and re-invent itself from there?
Though I’m not sure if there is an alternative to a single entity making all decisions to achieve perfect peace on a planet, I assume that there would at least have to be a society of beings to properly balance and rule out some of the physical hazards to life itself. One idea would be to divide communication and physical influence, forming a whole will and a divided body, but that would somewhat turn the whole concept of joining will and physics upside down.
Perhaps to not threaten all life on earth, the best option for the organism would be to refrain from using its powers and do nothing at all.
Resolution
I obviously fail to understand the implications of intelligent DNA, which I guess is normal. But I sometimes have the feeling that we are heading towards such a strange kind of dream. When I fly, right before landing, I sometimes look at our towns and get this impression of a giant tree or lichen, with our streets being branches and our houses the leaves of that enormous human plant. Perhaps we are already one giant being and the initial dream is not so strange after all.