Science blogging is somewhat of a communal exercise. At least, it should be and cool biomed blogs are a great community. One of the most invigorating aspects of blogging is finding new blogs that are worthwhile and edgy. Below I list some of my recommendations for blogs that you might not be familiar with, but …
Cool biomed blogs you may not heard of: a drugmonkey, a med student, #CRISPR, & more Read More »
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has released an open call for information and comments on genetic modification, including on humans and other organisms. I strongly encourage readers to participate and voice your opinions, regardless of whether you lean toward caution or taking risks on genetic modification. Your input will be important for how the Nuffield …
A grant walks into a bar and says… Is there a method to your mixology? Do I have to give you a timeline of my drinking plans? Funding has been 86’d I’m doing field research studying alcohol dehydrogenase and could use your help… I’d like to order 250K. Your bouncer isn’t going to triage me, …
New Year’s Science Humor: A grant walks into a bar and says… 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 …
“Take a Selfie”, has become a catch phrase in pop culture. There is a preoccupation with capturing one’s own existence and key moments in pictures. Another trend is a DIY culture including taking initiative with one’s own health. When combined together we are in the midst of a larger trend in medicine where patients will …
Take a medical selfie: a taste of your own medicine Read More »
Day 2 of the Human Gene Editing Summit in DC (#GeneEditSummit) was quite interesting and added more depth to the meeting overall. For specific talks, see my two posts from yesterday here and here. Also see my top takeaways from Day 1. What were the top highlights of Day 2 of #GeneEditSummit? Somatic work. We …
How do governance issues for human genome editing work at the international level? Indira Nath, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, gives a nice overview to start the session. She raised the example of medical tourism and surrogacy in India. She argued for an international consensus on what is permissible on human gene editing. How …
Live Blog #GeneEditSummit Day 2 Post #2: International Governance Read More »
Now we have an interesting panel starting on questions of governance on human gene editing. This will focus on institutional and national levels of governance. Pilar N. Ossorio, University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Morgridge Institute for Research, is introducing the panel. Key question: how should emerging technologies being governed? Jonathan Kimmelman, from McGill, was the first …
Live Blogging #GeneEditSummit Day 2 Post #1: Governance of human gene editing Read More »
I’ve written extensively about the potential use of CRISPR in humans, including in particular in the germline where it would lead to heritable genetic modifications. Research using CRISPR in human embryos strictly for research purposes (not reproduction) is proceeding and in the case of non-viable embryos, such work has already been published (e.g. here), but …
Note that this poll is focused on germline, heritable genetic modification. Thus, it does not include somatic cell/gene therapy applications.