By Guillaume Levrier Human germline editing has been done before. It will be done again in the future, as it is relatively easy to perform. No mechanism with the de facto ability to prevent it from being organized has yet been designed, let alone implemented. But the fact that germline editing has, can, and will […]
Every so often I realize I’ve accumulated a bunch of tabs on my browsers of things I need to dive into as time permits, which sometimes translates into a collection of recommended reads here on The Niche. Here are some recommended recent reads in the stem cell/regenerative medicine field and childhood cancer space. It includes
Weekend reads: stem cells, CRISPR, glioma, stroke, RTT & more Read More »
ViaCyte is one of the most exciting stem cell and regenerative medicine biotech companies so I like to try to check in with them regularly. Today’s post is my new interview with ViaCyte leader Paul Laikind on recent developments. We had a great chat about the science and how things are looking upbeat for the
ViaCyte Q&A: CRISPR Tx quick progress, ongoing diabetes trial, & more Read More »
Every now and then I collect a bunch of recent science good news that I’ve come across. Here are some past ‘good news’ posts. Today’s post includes such a recent collection and some funny stuff too at the end. Enjoy! BTW, science is not necessarily all about stem cells, right? Talk about good news. 1,000th
Good news science digest: HIV, brain, CRISPR, cats vs. dogs, space, & more Read More »
Trying to make a CRISPR baby any time soon would be a really bad idea. How bad? Last December 3rd I penned a piece for STAT News arguing for a moratorium on the heritable use of CRISPR in humans. This potential future, radical application of “gene editing” is now often colloquially referred to as “CRISPR
CRISPR baby moratorium grows likely with rising tide of support including from biotech Read More »
My daughter Julie and I have written a book together entitled, “How to Build a Dragon or Die Trying, A satirical look at cutting edge science.” The book will be out sometime in June most likely. This is a very different kind of book than my first two, Stem Cells: An Insider’s Guide and GMO
How to Build a Dragon or Die Trying: check out new book with my daughter Julie Read More »
Two prominent scientists, Robin Lovell-Badge and George Daley, have been amongst the most outspoken proponents of leaving the door open to heritable human genetic modification via CRISPR. While they each have articulated their reasons in somewhat different ways at times, their core reasons arguing in favor of future heritable CRISPR appear largely the same. In
Counterpoints to Lovell-Badge & Daley’s CRISPR baby rationales Read More »
What happens next to He Jiankui (贺建奎) or as some people now refer to him, the “CRISPR baby guy”? China has a challenging situation to resolve here, but such conflicts between scientists and governments have happened regularly in history. When scientists go “rogue” (i.e. don’t conform to norms or ethical standards in an extreme way or
Who is Michael Deem and what was his role in his former student He Jiankui’s purported production of twin CRISPR’d babies? Is Deem now trying to edit himself out of the project? He Jiankui relied on help from many people and Deem was reportedly a part of that team. Members of He’s own research team helped
When I say “gene edit” or “genome editing”, what’s the first thing that pops in your mind? It will depend on who you are. For many lay people until a few weeks ago when the world heard about He Jiankui‘s claim of CRISPR’d babies they may not have had anything pop in their heads when
Context for my Nature piece on redefining “gene edit” to be more precise Read More »