You searched for He Jiankui - Page 5 of 5

New human genome editing (HHGE) academy report: solid, but key gaps

September 8, 2020 / Professor Paul Knoepfler, Ph.D. / Leave a Comment

The-International-Commission-on-the-Clinical-Use-of-Human-Germline-Genome-Editing-HHGE

Something called, “The International Commission on the Clinical Use of Human Germline Genome Editing” has issued a new report on heritable human genome editing (HHGE). The Commission was convened by the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the U.K.’s Royal Society. This post is my initial take on the summary of […]

New human genome editing (HHGE) academy report: solid, but key gaps Read More »

CRISPR often damages human embryo chromosomes

July 1, 2020 / Professor Paul Knoepfler, Ph.D. / 3 Comments

Three new studies reported in preprints all show severe DNA damage to human embryos from CRISPR a surprisingly high percentage of the time including in some cases loss of heterozygosity (LOH). Anywhere from about a quarter to half of CRISPR’d embryos exhibited major genome damage. As readers of The Niche know, I never was a

CRISPR often damages human embryo chromosomes Read More »

B+ on my report card on my 20 stem cell predictions for 2019

December 26, 2019 / Professor Paul Knoepfler, Ph.D. / 9 Comments

Last year around this time I took my annual plunge to make 20 predictions for the coming year for the stem cell and regenerative medicine field. I even made a crystal ball graphic to highlight the complexity of the stem cell ecosystem into which these predictions were embedded (see image) for 2019. How’d I do?

B+ on my report card on my 20 stem cell predictions for 2019 Read More »

Calling Out Denis Rebrikov CRISPR Babies Plan

June 26, 2019 / Professor Paul Knoepfler, Ph.D. / 1 Comment

A Russian Scientist named Denis Rebrikov told Nature and then other media including NPR last week that he plans to make CRISPR babies. In other words, babies with heritable genetic modifications. I don’t doubt that Rebrikov (pictured in ResearchGate image) might want to do this nor that he might try it, but rather I’m writing

Calling Out Denis Rebrikov CRISPR Babies Plan Read More »

CRISPR baby moratorium grows likely with rising tide of support including from biotech

April 28, 2019 / Professor Paul Knoepfler, Ph.D.

Trying to make a CRISPR baby any time soon would be a really bad idea. How bad? Last December 3rd I penned a piece for STAT News arguing for a moratorium on the heritable use of CRISPR in humans. This potential future, radical application of “gene editing” is now often colloquially referred to as “CRISPR

CRISPR baby moratorium grows likely with rising tide of support including from biotech Read More »

Counterpoints to Lovell-Badge & Daley’s CRISPR baby rationales

February 11, 2019 / Professor Paul Knoepfler, Ph.D. / 5 Comments

Two prominent scientists, Robin Lovell-Badge and George Daley, have been amongst the most outspoken proponents of leaving the door open to heritable human genetic modification via CRISPR. While they each have articulated their reasons in somewhat different ways at times, their core reasons arguing in favor of future heritable CRISPR appear largely the same. In

Counterpoints to Lovell-Badge & Daley’s CRISPR baby rationales Read More »

20 stem cell & regenerative medicine predictions for 2019

January 2, 2019 / Professor Paul Knoepfler, Ph.D. / 6 Comments

For a long time at the end of each year, I’ve been making stem cell predictions for the coming year. Most often I’ve been making a “top 20” list of predictions and today’s post has my list for 2019. You can see how I did for 2018 here, which might have been my best year

20 stem cell & regenerative medicine predictions for 2019 Read More »

Context for my Nature piece on redefining “gene edit” to be more precise

December 19, 2018 / Professor Paul Knoepfler, Ph.D. / 1 Comment

When I say “gene edit” or “genome editing”, what’s the first thing that pops in your mind? It will depend on who you are. For many lay people until a few weeks ago when the world heard about He Jiankui‘s claim of CRISPR’d babies they may not have had anything pop in their heads when

Context for my Nature piece on redefining “gene edit” to be more precise Read More »

Why CRISPR baby production (if it happened) was unethical & dangerous

November 26, 2018 / Professor Paul Knoepfler, Ph.D. / 8 Comments

Jiankui-He-who-claims-CRISPR-baby-production

Reports are out that a scientist in China has been working to make a CRISPR baby for some time and supposedly has made twin genetically modified babies. I see this work as unethical and dangerous. Just a couple years ago when I published my book GMO Sapiens on potential use of CRISPR in a heritable manner

Why CRISPR baby production (if it happened) was unethical & dangerous Read More »

Is ‘genetically modified human’ a loaded name?

April 5, 2015 / Professor Paul Knoepfler, Ph.D. / 6 Comments

Should we be using the term ‘genetically modified human’ in discussions of heritable use of CRISPR in people? During the still ongoing discussions of genetic modification in the human germline and potentially in actual human beings in the future, an interesting, but difficult question has emerged: What words or names would be most appropriate for

Is ‘genetically modified human’ a loaded name? Read More »

Search Results for: He Jiankui