This Ted Talk, delivered by Sara-Jane Dunn, talks about reprogramming different types of cells. The main idea of this talk is programming biology with the idea of advancing software to create some sort of “living software” that could transform agriculture, medicine, and energy.

Ideas

Some of the most important ideas I took from the speech included people using this for the worse. This new technology could pave the way for more biological warfare. This could be the start of a new genetically engineered disease that can only be made through this new technology. But will the pros outweigh the cons? Obviously, there are some major benefits to using this new software including the efficiency of agriculture and medicine that could save lives in the future. Depending on who gets a hold of this technology, the outcome of these advances could be unknown.

What She Does Well

While she is clearly on the positive side of this topic, she does bring in the fact that if the technology falls into the wrong hands, it could be dangerous. I did not even know that we could reprogram cells until I had watched this talk. Now I know that we can turn specific types of cells into their naive state and use them for other purposes.

The Style

It is obvious that this woman has prepared this talk, but she really makes it seem different than a speech. She may not even have the lines in her head and may just talk about the topics as she goes. She asks the audience questions that will really change their perspective about the topic. In my opinion, the main difference between a speech and a talk is the ability of the speaker to talk about the topic from the heart. This woman has worked in the field for years and is really passionate about her topic and how it will affect the community in the future. The visuals were also great because there weren’t visuals the whole time, but when there were, they related to what she was talking about.

Some Improvements

I think that she could improve on her tone. I know that she is passionate about her topic, but she should really sound like it more. Sometimes her hand motions did not make sense. She should not just move her arms every time she has something to say, rather she should do it when she is trying to make a point. Overall, she was effective in getting her point across to the audience.