Words about science and hiking
In what has to be one of the least-surprising results ever, researchers at the Sanger Institute in the UK find that CRISPR modification of dividing cells causes high rates of DNA rearrangements. This study differed from others in that it 1) used cells that divide but are normal – eg., stem cells rather than tumor Read More …
There’s a good chance that we will never be able to use CRISPR in otherwise healthy human beings. Not safely and ethically, anyway. Let’s assume that all the obvious technical problems are solved – that we learn which genes to modify and how, and that we learn how to deliver CRISPR-Cas complexes safely and efficiently to Read More …
This paper shows that a large fraction of humans have antibodies agains Cas9. This is not a surprise. Why? Because Cas9 is a bacterial protein, and its common bacterial sources (Staph and Strep) colonize or infect most humans at some point in their lives. Even though Cas9 is an intracellular protein, lysis of bacterial cells or Read More …
Sure. But let’s not get carried away. That “of our time” qualifier is hugely important. We’ve already done most of what is possible to allow humans to live out a natural life span. The invention that enabled this advance was germ theory. Equipped with germ theory – one of the few useful theories in biology Read More …
For society as a whole, not much. One of the unexpected findings of genomics is just how little our genomes matter to disease – particularly for chronic illnesses like heart disease and cancer. Not only are genetic contributions small compared to environmental ones, but their influence is spread out over dozens of genes. Fixing any one of Read More …
The rise of antibiotic resistance regularly prompts calls for another look at phage therapy, a phenomenon that dates back at least to the 1960s. Although resistance rates have skyrocketed in the intervening decades, phage therapy remains decidedly earthbound. Bacteriophage are viruses that infect and (often) kill bacteria. Phage therapy was intensively pursued in the 1920s. Read More …
In previous posts I’ve discussed the limitations of genomics, especially as compared to other fundamental advances in biomedicine. It’s not that I think genomics is a fraud or is bad science; to the contrary, it is providing significant insights into human biology and history every day. But genomics is just one field of science among many, and Read More …