Joseph M. Jacobson of MIT has won widespread accolades for his work on some really neat technology. He co-founded eInk, which is manufacturing so-called “electronic paper” that was a prime element in the construction of the plot element known as A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer in Neil Stephenson’s classic sci-fi novel The Diamond Age. He developed a type of “genetic alarm clock” for cells that could turn genes on and off after a specific time delay. Now the scientific journal Nature is reporting on what is arguably Jacobson’s most spectacular technological work yet, which he discussed last week at the 2002 Materials Research Society meeting in Boston: DNA that can be turned on and off by radio control. As reported by the BBC, this technology involves attaching a gold crystal to a particular stretch of DNA using standard molecular biology techniques. Specifically tuned radio waves are absorbed by the gold atom and transformed into heat that “opens up” and thereby deactivates the nearby DNA. The process is reversable; turning off the radio waves removes the heat and allows the DNA to naturally recombine back into its active state. The process is reportedly applicable to proteins and therefore enzymes as well, which would allow biochemical pathways in the body to be turned on and off at will. And if memory serves, isn’t this pretty much how Nell’s father Bud is executed at the docks early on in The Diamond Age?