After a seemingly endless period of review, the FDA has approved the genetically modified (GM) AquaBounty salmon for sale and consumption. Update: You might find my interview with George Church on CRISPR and gene modification interesting. I don’t see any particular reason to think that this GM fish as a food would pose any significant […]
FDA approves 1st GM animal (fast-growing salmon) to eat Read More »
Bombshell news in the stem cell field as Ocata Therapeutics (OCAT; formerly Advanced Cell Technology or ACT) is reportedly to be acquired by Astellas Pharma, Inc. The offer for purchase of OCAT will be $8.50/share or almost $380 million. For more details see this detailed PDF from Astellas. This quote on the deal form Ocata: “Paul
Ocata bought by Astellas of Japan: initial perspectives on end of an era Read More »
I’ve written a new book on human genetic modification. This is my second book as the first one was Stem Cells: An Insider’s Guide, which is currently the top stem cell book on Amazon. The new book is called GMO Sapiens: The Life-Changing Science of Designer Babies. You can pre-order it here at Amazon or over here at my publisher’s
GMO Sapiens book teaser: time to talk frankly on human genetic modification Read More »
I just did a blog post today on the striking story of someone doing DIY CRISPR gene therapy on themselves. A question came to mind. How long until someone does a DIY attempt to CRISPR themselves? In the DIY gene therapy story, the person was injected with so-called “gain-of-function” viruses to try to reap health
Tick Tock Genetic Clock: How soon until first DIY CRISPR of self? Read More »
Some TGIF stuff to read, think about, and do. Still a few days left to nominate your favorite candidate for my Stem Cell Person of the Year Award for 2015. Who had the most impact this year? Thought outside the box? Let me know. Lots of great nominees already. If you haven’t already, check out
TGIF links to tip-top weekend science reading Read More »
Here are some recommended weekend science reads and links including stem cells, CRISPR, and clones. Woo-Suk Hwang & his dog clones…all started with Snuppy (pictured): Disgraced Scientist Clones Dogs, And Critics Question His Intent.Now in 2020, I wonder where Hwang is and what is he doing? I’m going to look into it. Human gene editing
Recommended weekend science links Read More »
David Jensen reports on the future of CIRM as a “beautiful machine”. CIRM funds brain cancer research in a big way: Funding a clinical trial for deadly cancer is a no brainer. Glioblastoma is a fatal tumor that needs new clinical approaches so this is exciting. One of the goals of my lab is to find new
Weekend science reading: fantastic found links including on CIRM Read More »
Many of this blog’s readers ask about my own lab’s research: what is the focus of the work in the Knoepfler Lab? You can go check out our lab website, but I thought it might be time again to blog about what we are all about as a lab and what we have been up
Knoepfler Lab 2015: Our mission and 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 »
It’s a shame that National Geographic (NatGeo) has become part of a corporate empire that is not always consistent, to put it nicely, with data-based reality. Can NatGeo maintain its credibility and impact, when it is owned by a climate change denier (quoted for example as dissing folks as “extreme greenies”) who also has other
TGIF: NatGeo sell out, GM Humans, Wild West, Science backstabbing, & more Read More »