Back in December, the US National Academies held a first of its kind meeting on human gene editing. Keeping the dialogue going, there is a follow up meeting planned for April 29 in Paris, France. The Paris meeting is described this way: “Upcoming Public Meeting in Paris The consensus committee will host a public meeting …
Follow up Gene Editing Meeting to be Held in Paris in April on Human CRISPR Read More »
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 trivial question and despite …
A hunch on that CRISPR patent battle as it heats up Read More »
When my kids were younger, sometimes they’d ask why I am a scientist. How did you make that decision? Do you still like being a scientist? My answer would generally be along the lines of, “because I like figuring out how things work and maybe my research can help people”. What do you like about …
What do you like & dislike most about being a scientist? Read More »
My new book GMO Sapiens just recently came out. You can see a few reviews of it here and you can order it here. It’s an approachable, quick read on the unsettling, but exciting topic of using CRISPR gene editing technology to make a new kind of people. Here’s an excerpt from the book (publisher: World …
GMO Sapiens: An excerpt from my new book on human #CRISPR Read More »
Isn’t it cool how close one can get with just an iPhone and a macro lens to take pictures of things including nature? 2020 update: you might also enjoy these pages of nature photos I took. Can you figure out or guess what these things are below that I captured “on film”? Some are self-evident and …
With iPhone zoom lens, fun photos of super tiny stuff including nature Read More »
It’s exciting that the reviews are starting to come in on my new book, GMO Sapiens, on human genetic modification including CRISPR. Here is one from The Scientist and the book was recommended by Scientific American. Reviews from individual authors and scientists are below. “GMO Sapiens could not be more timely. New technologies like CRISPR-Cas9 gene …
Reviews of my new book GMO Sapiens on #CRISPR & human modification Read More »
New genetic modification technology such as CRISPR-Cas9 has opened the door to transformative biological research, but it has also set the table for some novel kinds of technological problems for which we aren’t at all prepared including one that I call the “gene spill”. The striking potential upsides to CRISPR paired with some of the …
A new possible environmental disaster: the gene spill Read More »
When I was a kid I would sometimes have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. PB&J, as we called it, was a good choice for lunch. No refrigeration needed, not that we worried that much about that kind of thing back then just like seatbelts and secondhand smoke. Thinking back, PB&J in the 1970s was …
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 »
Politicians including Trump may start talking about CRISPR more and more in the near future. What if politicians weighed in on CRISPR with Tweets or statements in debates? What if this happened during the particularly charged time of a political campaign such as now? Below is a Saturday science satire in that spirit of imagined Tweets …
If Trump & Other Politicians Debated #CRISPR: Saturday Science Satire Read More »