Modern Technology and the Marginal Value of DNA

HBI — Kenneth Myers — 2026‑04‑09 — 14%

Definition of the HBI

This is a speculation whose assumptions are unclear even to its author. It concerns the question of whether modern technology is increasing or decreasing the marginal value of DNA — that is, the value of one more unit of genetic information in a world increasingly dominated by computation, data, and synthetic systems.

The Half‑Baked Thought

“Is DNA becoming obsolete, or is it becoming the most programmable substrate in history?”

For most of human history, DNA was the ultimate blueprint. It determined survival, reproduction, and the slow drift of evolution. But modern technology has begun to erode the monopoly of DNA on shaping outcomes. We now have:

  • machines that outperform biological senses

  • algorithms that out‑predict biological intuition

  • synthetic materials that outlast biological tissues

  • cultural evolution that moves faster than genetic evolution

  • and soon, perhaps, artificial agents that out‑strategize biological brains

If technology substitutes for biological function, then perhaps the marginal value of DNA — the value of one more gene, one more mutation, one more inherited trait — is declining.

But the opposite might also be true. Technology may increase the marginal value of DNA by:

  • making genetic information easier to read

  • making genetic interventions easier to perform

  • making genetic differences more actionable

  • making biological design more programmable

In this view, DNA becomes not a fading blueprint but a newly accessible API.

The Central Question

Is DNA becoming:

  • less valuable, because technology replaces biological function, or

  • more valuable, because technology amplifies biological information?

Or is the question itself malformed — a category error produced by trying to compare two evolutionary substrates that are no longer competing but co‑evolving?

A Speculative Analogy

Perhaps DNA is becoming like land in a digital economy: still foundational, still finite, but no longer the primary driver of wealth, power, or capability. Or perhaps DNA is becoming like source code in an age of compilers: more valuable precisely because it can now be manipulated, optimized, and repurposed.

The Half‑Baked Conclusion

The marginal value of DNA may be decreasing for organisms but increasing for technologists. In other words:

  • For biology, DNA is destiny.

  • For technology, DNA is raw material.

And raw material becomes more valuable when new tools arrive to shape it.

This idea is, of course, half‑baked. Its assumptions are unclear even to its author. But it feels like the beginning of a question worth asking.

Footnote (in the manner of I. J. Good)

1. The author is aware that the “marginal value of DNA” is not a well‑defined quantity, except perhaps to organisms, technologists, and certain bacteria with strong opinions. Any resemblance to a rigorous concept is purely coincidental and should not be held against the author, who is merely trying to keep up with evolution in both its biological and technological forms.

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