Bryan Walsh
‘Just because we can do it, should we?’ How CRISPR co-creator Jennifer Doudna is furthering the discussion over the ethics of human genome editing
In 2012, Jennifer Doudna, then a relatively unknown biochemist at the University of California Berkeley, published a paper with Emmanuelle Charpentier ...
CRISPR cryptography: Making the world safer from gene-editing research gone awry
Evolution is Kevin Esvelt’s passion: how it works in nature, how we can direct it, and how it can go ...
Cheaper gene editing poised to change the world ‘and even extend human lifespans’
Increasingly inexpensive genetic sequencing and engineering tools could upend everything from health care to fuel. Why it matters: This bio ...
Gaming for catastrophe: Bioterrorism could create a pathogen ‘far worse than nature ever could’
In the darkened ballroom of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, D.C., some of the finest minds in government are ...
The story behind the looming $30-billion-a-year synthetic DNA data storage market
[Emily] Leproust is cofounder and CEO of Twist Bioscience, a five-year-old startup that is, by some estimates, the world’s largest ...
‘Fully customizable’ genome: Replacing yeast’s 12.5 million base pairs piece by piece
Homo sapiens has had a tight relationship with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the unicellular fungus better known as brewer’s yeast. … That doesn’t mean S ...
Redefining natural selection: How synthetic biology may solve sustainability challenges in food, fuel and health
[S]ynthetic biology] is poised to change how we feed ourselves, clothe ourselves, fuel ourselves—and possibly even change our very selves ...
Bryan Walsh: Modifying the endless debate over genetically modified crops
The following is an edited excerpt. I’ll admit—I’ve never quite understood the obsession surrounding genetically modified (GM) crops. To environmentalist ...
Can GM crops bust the drought?
Farmers and crop companies are struggling to figure out ways to cope with severe drought. Changing the weather is still ...