Alan H. Goldstein is a

research scientist A scientist is a person who researches to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophical study of nature ...

and

futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futures studies or futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities ...

. He began his career in the 1970s as a

molecular biologist Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

before becoming a theoretician in the field of

nanobiotechnology Nanobiotechnology, bionanotechnology, and nanobiology are terms that refer to the intersection of nanotechnology and biology. Given that the subject is one that has only emerged very recently, bionanotechnology and nanobiotechnology serve as blank ...

. He has codified the central concepts of this nascent area of knowledge into a set of operational rules termed the ' Laws of Biomimetics'. As part of this work, Goldstein has published a set of guidelines specifically designed to identify the

artificial life Artificial life (ALife or A-Life) is a field of study wherein researchers examine systems related to natural life, its processes, and its evolution, through the use of simulations with computer models, robotics, and biochemistry. The discipline ...

forms likely to emerge from research at the intersection of nanotechnology and biotechnology. He has also created the '

Animat Animat are artificial animals; the term is a contraction of "animal" and "materials" (and, coincidentally, also the third-person indicative present of the Latin verb ''animō'' which means to "animate, give or bring life"). The term includes physica ...

Test' as a practical bioengineering tool for monitoring the coming transformation from natural to artificial biology:

Let us define a life form as an entity that reduces entropy by self-executing the minimum set of physical and chemical operations necessary to sustain the ability to execute functionally equivalent negentropic operations indefinitely across time. Given that, a life form will be considered an animat (living material) if all the information necessary to execute that minimum set of physical and chemical operations cannot be stored in DNA or RNA. The corollary: If all the information necessary to execute that minimum set of physical and chemical operations can be stored in DNA or RNA, the life form is biological.

His essay "Nature vs. Nanoengineering: Rebuilding our world one atom at a time." won a 2003

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

Economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

Prize http://www.shelleconomistprize.com and remains the primary reference in the nascent field of nanobioethics. He was probably the first person to use the term "Breaking The Carbon Barrier" to identify the future moment when humanity successfully engineers the first nonbiological life form. This concept was formally introduced and defined during a debate with Ron Bailey at the Foresight 'Vision Weekend' component of the 13th Foresight Conference on Advanced Nanotechnology.

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-biologist-stub