Today one can email DNA strings to laboratories that will produce proteins on demand.
Mostly true True in substance, wrong in a detail.
Factual: Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?
The second judge would not resolve this claim; the verdict shown is the first judge's.
Said for an organisation they lead or work for; it counts on both records.
What would count as true or false
Judge as of 2023-04-07. True: commercial services existed then that accept DNA sequences submitted electronically (email or online order) and synthesize the DNA and/or express and deliver proteins on demand. Mostly true: such services existed but involve minor frictions the claim leaves out (e.g. account checks, biosecurity screening, ordering through web forms rather than literal email). Mixed: DNA synthesis from sent sequences was available, but on-demand protein production was not readily available this way. Mostly false: only DNA synthesis was available, with protein production needing substantial further steps or institutional access that make 'on demand' misleading. False: no such remote ordering services existed.
Set before the research began.
Evidence (8)
-
E1 Customized Bacterial Expression Services GenScript
“Orders can be placed online, over the phone, by email or fax.”
-
E2 Customized Bacterial Expression Services GenScript
“Gene to protein from 1 week”
-
E3 GeneArt Custom Gene Synthesis Services | Thermo Fisher Scientific - US Thermo Fisher Scientific
“Custom gene constructs can be ordered online using the GeneArt Services Dashboard or via email.”
-
E4 Customized Bacterial Expression Services GenScript
“Orders can be placed online, over the phone, by email or fax. Please have your payment information (credit card, purchase order or bank information) ready.”
-
E5 Customized Bacterial Expression Services GenScript
“Gene to protein from 1 week”
-
E6 Protein Expression Service LifeTein
“It is easy. Just email us a protein sequence and we will send you minigrams of proteins.”
-
E7 Custom Gene Synthesis Services | IDT Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT)
“Order custom genes or Ansa genes through our online Gene Synthesis ordering portal. Enter your sequence and project requirements, and the ordering experience will present the available synthesis and vector options”
-
E8 Custom Recombinant Protein Expression | Fast & Reliable | Boster Bio Boster Bio
“Using our proprietary algorithm, we optimize your gene for maximum expression and solubility. Gene synthesis is performed by our trusted partners.”
Reasoning
Commercial providers say custom DNA can be ordered by email or through online portals (E3, E7). Protein expression services also accept orders by email, with "gene to protein from 1 week" (E1, E2, E4, E5), and LifeTein says customers can "just email us a protein sequence" and receive protein (E6). These are real frictions the claim leaves out: payment details are required and turnaround starts at about a week (E4, E5). Another limitation is that all the pages are undated, so they describe the service type rather than proving it was available on 2023-04-07, which weakens the case that this held on that date.
Cite this claim
Eliezer Yudkowsky, “Today one can email DNA strings to laboratories that will produce proteins on demand.” (said 7 April 2023). Verdict: mostly true. Reliability API, claim c_6cd53c1183ed, method 0.1.0+c876030c, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_6cd53c1183ed
This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.
Reply to this claim
More factual claims by Eliezer Yudkowsky
-
Mostly true
“And a blade of grass one notes is a solar powered, fully self-replicating general factory.”
A blade of grass is a solar-powered, fully self-replicating general factory.
-
Mixed
“I was observing that obvious-seeming hypothesis myself, sometime around the time of GPT 3.5.”
Yudkowsky himself observed the persona-selection-like hypothesis around the time of GPT 3.5.
-
Mostly true
“The test-passing preference stands on its own once formed.”
-
Mostly true
“LLMs surely have neural circuits they learned to model text streams from fictional and nonfictional personas that are not lying, deceiving, cheating.”
-
Mostly true
“The predict-as-if-honest circuitry is contextual, invoked to predict some streams of text but not others.”
Verdicts are made automatically; how verdicts are made.