Month: May 2015

Recap of BEINGS 2015 Meeting by Aaron Levine: Shaping Future of Cellular Biotech

aaron-levine_rob-felt_hires

Last week I attended Biotech & the Ethical Imagination (BEINGS 2015), the summit I previewed on this blog back in early May. It many ways the summit lived up to its lofty ambitions. Steven Pinker kicked off the event by emphasizing the power and importance of biomedical research, noting that almost everyone is affected by …

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White House supports moratorium on heritable human CRISPR

John_Holdren

The Obama Administration today weighed in on human germline genetic modification such as via CRISPR via a note from John Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The White House indicated support for the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National Academy …

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CRISPR critters: Cute pics of Cas9 gene edited animals

CRISPR-mouse

As CRISPR gene editing technology has advanced in the last few years, the number of genetically modified animals made with this system has steadily increased. Some are very interesting and useful for science. At the same time especially when they are little, they can be very cute. A nickname is going around for these GM …

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DIY human ‘upgrades’ via biohacking

biohacking

Heritable human genetic modification has been the topic of the year so far, but another trend is edgy and interesting: non-heritable, but cutting edge forms of human modification that in some ways fall into the class of biohacking. Biohackers are into do-it-yourself (DIY) forms of biology including self-modification. Sure, people have been modifying themselves for …

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Public polling on human gene editing, moratorium

Hart-Poll

Many of us scientists, ethicists, and legal scholars are working on educational outreach to the public on the potential use of gene editing technologies like CRISPR to genetically modify human beings, but clearly there’s a long way to go and much more to do on this front. By the way, you may find this new …

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Guest Post by Chris Scott–The Great CRISPR Controversy: What’s Next?

CRISPR-primates

A decade ago I wrote an article in the journal Nature Biotechnology about the rise of a new gene editing technology called zinc finger nucleases (ZNF). It was one of those “drumbeat” discoveries: at the time, my sense was it would revolutionize how we deliver genes to cells and tissues, and profoundly change the way …

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Stanford Human Germline Modification Meeting: Medicine, Science, Ethics, & Law

Greely_Hank

Last Thursday I participated in a meeting at Stanford Law School on human germline genetic modification hosted by Hank Greely (pictured at left), Professor of Law and Genetics at Stanford. The meeting was entitled, “Human Germline Modification: Medicine, Science, Ethics, and Law”. The panel included in addition to Hank and me, the following speakers: Marcy Darnovsky, Executive Director of …

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Do Patients Have a Fundamental Right to Choice?

right-to-choice-in-medicine

What is the “proper” amount of freedom of choice for patients in medicine? What if the treatments in question are experimental and come with their own baggage of associated risks, personal costs, and potential costs to society? More broadly, do patients have a fundamental right to medical choice? These questions seem particularly appropriate today on …

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