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 »
The Summit on Human Gene Editing got off to a great start yesterday. I have four posts summarizing all the talks and my impressions on the points made (here, here, here, and here). What was the overall gestalt including from talking to people informally? What were the big takeaway messages so far from Day 1? Diverse views. …
Human Gene Editing takeaways from day 1 of #GeneEditSummit Read More »
The post-lunch session is “Applications of Gene Editing Technology: Human Germline Modification”. Prior to hearing it I’m curious how cautious or gung-ho the speakers will be, or if their gestalt will be one of balance in the middle somewhere. Robin Lovell-Badge, The Francis Crick Institute, was the moderator of this session. He said, “We’d be …
Live Blogging #GeneEditSummit Day 1 Post #3: human germline modification Read More »
Today’s post is a review of Unnatural Selection, the new Netflix science docuseries focused on CRISPR and other disruptive genetic and reproductive technologies. The show is an interesting mix of personalities and stories from patients, scientists, biohackers, and more. One patient thread is the story of a wonderful little boy named Jackson Kennedy. He wants …
Unnatural Selection review: captivating mind-bender but needed more science Read More »
Here are some articles that look especially interesting on stem cells, cancer, and CRISPR. I was just at the SNO meeting in SFO on childhood brain tumors so those are on my mind more. Childhood cerebellar tumours mirror conserved fetal transcriptional programs (Nature) Childhood brain tumors “think” they are building organds in fetuses. H3.3 K27M depletion …
Recommended recent stem cell, peds cancer & CRISPR reads Read More »
Over the weekends I try to catch up on more diverse reading and sometimes come up with a list of stuff I want to get to during this time, but I also put together weekend reads usually on Fridays as a kind of TGIF on The Niche for the wider audience here. So here’s the …
TGIF weekend reads: senolytics, new CRISPR, stem cells, & 3 wacky things Read More »
I talked last year about human genetic modification by CRISPR with George Church a year ago. Now we’ve followed up with a long chat on this topic going into much more detail and with questions on recent developments. Each question is listed numerically and then there is a back and forth on that question with George …
George Church chat: CRISPR people, Zika, weapons Read More »
There’s a questionable notion floating around out there in the numerous discussions over heritable human genetic modification. 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 as we …
You can’t retract a designer baby: #CRISPR, social justice, & risks 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 …
Google is reportedly getting into the genetic modification business. It plans to use a sexy, new genetic technology called “gene drive”, which has both excited and unsettled scientists due to its great power to make GMOs in nature via reproductive chain reactions. This move toward genetic modification is part of a larger trend of Google …