Several of us here at UC Davis and other Northern California institutions have worked together to organize a unique symposium on CRISPR and genetic modification. You are invited to attend the free meeting, which will take place on May 26th. You can register here. We will cover CRISPR ethics, policy, and law as they relate both […]
Invitation to attend novel CRISPR ethics & policy symposium Read More »
I like Easter eggs, science and writing, and Easter is less than a week away. I also think that games and puzzles as well as contests where there are prizes are fun. In this spirit I’ve hidden a scientific Easter egg inside of my new book, GMO Sapiens. If you are the first to find it
Find Easter egg hidden in my new book GMO Sapiens & win $250 Read More »
There’s a questionable notion floating around out there in the numerous discussions over heritable human genetic modification and CRISPR. This idea goes that if germline human gene editing goes awry for any number of reasons, scientists could simply reverse it by applying genetics again. The reversal notion does not fit with the reality of science
You can’t retract a designer baby: CRISPR, social justice, & risks Read More »
Remember that CRISPR patent battle? Who really invented CRISPR? If it was many people and labs, who did it first and who deserves the credit? When things like Nobel Prizes and Patents get decided on CRISPR-Cas9, who will be for lack of a better way of putting it, the winners and the losers? It’s not
A hunch on that CRISPR patent battle as it heats up Read More »
With the approval today of the use of CRISPR in human embryos, the UK continues its recent trend toward a more permissive regulatory policy on human genetic modification. There are both risks and scientific benefits that come along with this trend. Last year the UK approved an experimental technology with the goal of preventing the
CRISPR embryo OK signals ongoing liberal UK trend on human modification Read More »
Eric Lander’s recent piece in Cell on The Heroes of CRISPR has sparked strong reactions that are mostly critical and have argued that the article is biased. I’m going to weigh in with my own thoughts at some point later, but I thought it would be interesting to try a word cloud-based text mining of the Lander
Does Word Cloud of Lander’s Heroes of CRISPR Text Suggest Bias? Read More »
The patent dispute on CRISPR between UC/Jennifer Doudna and The Broad/Feng Zhang has been the subject of major attention including in a recent piece on Stanford Center for Law & Biosciences Blog. There is a lot of confusion over this important CRISPR dispute so I turned to a patent expert for their take on this via an interview
Patent expert weighs in on CRISPR dispute between UC & Broad Read More »
The New York Times recently asked 6 people what sci-fi movie or novel is most prescient today; in my view it’s GATTACA. The responses ran the gamut: Fahrenheit 451, The Martian, The Fifth Season, The Body Snatchers, Book of the New Sun, and Use of Weapons. To me of those 6, the best case can
NYT asks which sci-fi work is most prescient today: I think GATTACA Read More »
I just finished filming a segment for PBS NewsHour, their national nightly news show along with Jennifer Doudna. It will air tonight. Take a look. Gwen Ifill interviewed Doudna and me about CRISPR and human genetic modification. I’ve pasted the video in YouTube Above. You can read my interview with Dr. Doudna on The
Watch Jennifer Doudna and I talking #CRISPR tonight on PBS NewsHour Read More »
CRISPR is the hottest new biotechnology and the top development of 2015 according to Science Magazine. What will the new year of 2016 bring on the CRISPR front? It’s clear there will be more meetings on CRISPR ethics and policy (heck, we are having one right here at UC Davis on May 26), but what
CRISPR predictions for New Year of 2016 Read More »