I just got back from a historic summit on human genetic modification in Washington, D.C. New genetic modification technology, termed CRISPR-Cas9, has both made genetic modification a relatively simple matter for scientists and human genetic modification much more likely in the near future. Heritable human genetic modification could prevent some rare genetic diseases so there …
This is blog post #1 from Day 1 of the National Academy of Sciences meeting on Human Gene editing. Some of the post may be written on the fly given the quick timeline of the meeting. Updates will sometimes be added to existing posts. See the subsequent three posts on the rest of the day here, …
Live Blog #GeneEditSummit Day 1 Post 1: Context & Science Read More »
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) summit on Human Gene Editing will begin in a few days on December 1 in Washington, D.C. This summit is in part the extension of discussions that started at a more informal meeting on CRISPR earlier this year in Napa organized by Jennifer Doudna and colleagues. The NAS meeting …
Live Blogging NAS Human Gene Editing Summit: #GeneEditSummit Read More »
A draft agenda is now publicly available for the upcoming National Academy of Sciences (NAS) meeting on human gene editing. We now know a lot more about what to expect from this international gathering, which is called the International Summit on Human Gene Editing: A Global Discussion. The meeting will start on day 1 with …
NAS Human Gene Editing Meeting: Agenda & Public Participation Read More »
In a strange, but fascinating tale recounted by Antonio Regalado in an article over at MIT Tech Review, we hear the first claim of a do-it-yourself (DIY) gene therapy. The owner of a small biotech called BioViva, Liz Parrish, reportedly traveled from her home in Seattle to get an unapproved, experimental gene therapy in another …
Claim of Liz Parrish DIY gene therapy linked to unlicensed stem cell clinic Read More »
Who will be speaking at the upcoming National Academy of Sciences (NAS) meeting on human gene editing? So far we haven’t known, but now we do (if you are eager to find out, skip to bottom of the post). The organizers of the meeting can be found here. Keep in mind that it is probable that …
List of Speakers for NAS Meeting on Human Gene Editing Read More »
UK biologist Kathy Niakan has asked governmental permission to make GM human embryos using CRISPR. Earlier this year, a research team in China crossed a scientific line for the first time in history by using gene editing technology called CRISPR-Cas9 to make genetically modified (GM) human embryos. Other researchers around the world including now one …
UK Biologist Niakan Asks to Make GM Human Embryos For Research Read More »
The US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) will hold a meeting on heritable human germline modification on December 1-3, 2015 in Washington, D.C. Invitations to the NAS meeting to individuals starting going out last week. The upcoming NAS meeting seeks to address these issues and discuss the possibility of a moratorium on clinical use of …
NAS Meeting on Human Germline Modification Taking Shape Read More »
The US Congress recently held its first hearing on human germline genetic modification. The meeting included CRISPR-Cas9 pioneer Jennifer Doudna (see video here) on the panel. See image of Cas9 structure from Wikipedia. CRISPR-Cas9 is a powerful, strikingly efficient tool for genetic engineering of cells and whole organisms. Now Republican congressional leaders have included a …
Congress: FDA should consult religious experts on embryo CRISPR Read More »
The House Subcommittee on Research and Technology on Tuesday held a CRISPR hearing: “The Science and Ethics of Genetically Engineered Human DNA”. At the meeting, CRISPR pioneer Dr. Jennifer Doudna gave testimony along with Dr. Victor Dzau who is the President of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Dr. …
Doudna & Others Testify to Congress on CRISPR, Human Germline Editing Read More »