Counteracting host reactions to synthetic reprogramming in animal forms of artificial life

Recent advances in synthetic biology enable the reconfiguration of neural circuits within live animals, making it possible to reprogram their behaviours, and create animal forms of artificial life. While fulfilling human design goals, such systems actively preserve their autonomy, self-maintenance and self-regulation, which could create a conflict disrupting the functioning and persistence of either host organism or the synthetic module incorporated in the host. We illustrate instances of organism resistance to neural system rewiring with reference to general operational principles of autonomy, and specifically in the nematode worm C. elegans with reference to concrete example of behavioural engineering. We discuss design considerations in synthetic neurobiology to facilitate integration between homeostatic processes and synthetically induced behavioural responses. We claim that the above mentioned conflict between a distinctive feature of living systems and their behavioural engineering has to be seen as an opportunity for progress in science and in the development of animal forms of artificial life.