Young Again: How One Cell Turns Back Time

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, November 22, 2017

Link

None of us was made from scratch. Every human being develops from the fusion of two cells, an egg and a sperm, that are the descendants of other cells. The lineage of cells that joins one generation to the next — called the germline — is, in a sense, immortal.

Biologists have puzzled over the resilience of the germline for 130 years, but the phenomenon is still deeply mysterious.

Over time, a cell’s proteins become deformed and clump together. When cells divide, they pass that damage to their descendants. Over millions of years, the germline ought to become too devastated to produce healthy new life.

Continue reading “Young Again: How One Cell Turns Back Time” →

Friday’s Elk November 16, 2017

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Three years ago I wrote about a provocative new idea for the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR. Maybe conservation biologists could wipe out invasive species with a fast-spreading gene.

One of the key thinkers behind that idea was a biologist named Kevin Esvelt. Recently Esvelt did something remarkable: he got in touch with me to let me know he now thinks that the idea is a bad one. Maybe even a dangerous one. This week, I wrote about Esvelt’s change of heart in my column for the New York Times. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk November 16, 2017” →

‘Gene Drives’ Are Too Risky for Field Trials, Scientists Say

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, November 16, 2017

Link

In 2013, scientists discovered a new way to precisely edit genes — technology called Crispr that raised all sorts of enticing possibilities. Scientists wondered if it might be used to fix hereditary diseases, for example, or to develop new crops.

One of the more intriguing ideas came from Kevin M. Esvelt and his colleagues at Harvard University: Crispr, they suggested, could be used to save endangered wildlife from extinction by implanting a fertility-reducing gene in invasive animals — a so-called gene drive.

Continue reading “‘Gene Drives’ Are Too Risky for Field Trials, Scientists Say” →

Friday’s Elk, October 25, 2017

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

I’m in the middle of proofreading She Has Her Mother’s Laugh, which has slowed me down on other fronts. But it’s a pleasure to see the book continue its odyssey towards publication in May. (Reminder: you can pre-order it now!)

I’ve got a few talks coming up in the next few weeks, but there’s one I want especially to draw your attention to. One week from tonight, I’ll be in New York for the second night in my “What is Life?” series.

On November 1 at Caveat, you can join me for conversations with a pair of leading scientists about how life began–about the wild history of research into life’s origins, and the current debates about how it got started some 4 billion years ago. The first night of the series, in front of a sold-out house, was a blast, so I’m very excited about the next one. You can find information about the event and tickets here. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, October 25, 2017” →

Friday’s Elk, October 14, 2017

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

Greetings! It’s been a pretty busy week.

Last Saturday night, the Online News Association held their annual award ceremony in Washington. My “Game of Genomes” series for Stat won an award for explanatory reporting.

I couldn’t be there to accept it, but if I had been, I would have done so on behalf of the talented team who turned my obsession into a stylish piece of online journalism: my editor Jason Ukman; Stat’s multimedia guru Jeff Delviscio; Alissa Ambrose for visual editing; Molly Ferguson for the delightful illustrations; Dom Smith for the smart animations; the web masters Corey Taylor, Ryan DeBeasi, and Jim Reevior; Tony Guzman, the project manager; copy editor Sarah Mupo; and Stat’s fearless leader, Rick Berke. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, October 14, 2017” →