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 »
The international stem cell policy and ethics think tank, the Hinxton Group, weighed in yesterday on heritable human genetic modification with a new policy statement. The Hinxton statement is in many ways in agreement with the Baltimore, et al. Nature paper proposing a “prudent path forward” for human germline genetic modification, which came out of
Perspectives on Hinxton Human Germline Modification Statement Read More »
For the past few years post-publication peer review (PPPR) has grown in influence and one particular website, PubPeer, has become the primary go-to place specifically for blunt PPPR. The kind that happens in journal clubs in labs across the world. Comments on PubPeer have led to numerous serious corrections and retractions of flawed articles. I’m most
PubPeer founder neuroscientist Brandon Stell Read More »
There has been a great deal of excitement during the past several years over the regenerative medicine work of often-called “super surgeon” Dr. Paolo Macchiarini. For an update on Paolo Macchiarini from a recent scathing Vanity Fair piece, see here. Hei has done pioneering work. For instance, he created and transplanted bioengineered windpipes that were produced in
Paolo Macchiarini cleared of misconduct, but some charges remain Read More »
The Japanese public broadcasting system, NHK, has been accused by scientist Haruko Obokata of violating her human rights. Obokata was the primary researcher involved in the STAP cell fiasco in which two ultimately retracted Nature papers contained duplicated, plagiarized, and manipulated data. She was certainly not the only researcher on those papers, but overall she
Did NHK Violate Rights of Obokata (小保方 晴子) on STAP? Read More »
Below is a conversation with bioethics commentator Kelly Hills (who BTW has a great blog), tackling some of the key issues surrounding the potential use of CRISPR-Cas9 technology to make heritable human genetic modification. I really appreciate her clear and insightful answers to some tough questions that many are grappling with today on this topic. Part
Kelly Hills interview: human genetic modification & bioethics Read More »
In a poll on CRISPR, respondents so far have predominantly viewed potential off-target effects as a moderate (28%) to substantial (25%) problem. The poll is still running if you are interested in participating. As to the more polar answers, only 20% and 4% answered “minor” or “a non-issue”, respectively, while 14% thought that off-target effects
CRISPR off-target effects important, but not severe challenge, says poll Read More »
Gene drive is a powerful, emerging genetic technology that can force genetic modification into an entire population. For more background on gene drive you can read my previous post. It’s a very exciting, but potentially dangerous technology with sizable possible risks. Recently I had an intriguing conversation with leading geneticist Harmit Malik on gene drive. What
Conversation with Harmit Malik on Gene Drive & Genetics Read More »