MIT Technology Review
Asia is pulling ahead in the AI race – but are ethics being prioritized?
Globally, future outlooks for artificial intelligence (AI) swing between two extremes—excited anticipation about the positive impact AI will have on ...
Can we trust self-regulation? As artificial embryos creep closer to the real thing, when do we hit pause?
[R]esearchers at the University of Michigan are reporting that they’ve learned to efficiently manufacture realistic models of human embryos from stem cells ...
How CRISPR could help eradicate chronic pain
The street performer was only 10 years old. He put knives through his arms and walked on hot embers. By ...
Bacterial gene found in CRISPR-edited cow DNA raises new regulatory hurdles for animal gene editing
They were the poster animals for the gene-editing revolution, appearing in story after story. By adding just a few letters ...
An argument for why no one should live past 75
[Physician Ezekiel] Emanuel vowed to refuse not only heroic medical interventions once he turned 75, but also antibiotics and vaccinations ...
Inside the transhumanist quest for ‘super-longevity’
Transhumanism is a patchwork of beliefs about how technology will enhance the human condition, maybe radically so. There are Extropians ...
If we classified aging as a disease, would it change the way we treat it?
What would change if we classified aging itself as the disease? David Sinclair, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School, is ...
‘Elixir of life’: Can epigenetic reprogramming help us live longer and healthier?
[Juan Carlos] Izpisúa Belmonte can rejuvenate aging, dying animals. He can rewind time. But just as quickly as he blows ...
Improving artificial intelligence by teaching our machines to reason
Deep learning, the category of AI algorithms that kick-started the field’s most recent revolution, has made immense strides in giving ...
What we know about Elon Musk’s ‘dramatic’ plan to link human brains to computers through implants
[July 16], fans and haters of Elon Musk turned out by the thousands to watch an internet live-stream of the ...
Will China tell the world about its third controversial CRISPR baby?
The Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing, held in Hong Kong last November, was meant to debate the pros ...
Monkeys given gene-edited pig organs in quest to address human transplant shortage
In 2017, Harvard University geneticist George Church predicted that gene-edited pig organs would be transplanted into people within two years—maybe ...
CRISPR babies with ‘protective’ HIV mutation could have shorter life span
When the Chinese scientist He Jiankui created the first gene-edited children, he dreamed of improving the world. He believed the ...
Why biotech firms are jumping into the cannabis business
As biotechnology embraces the legal cannabis industry, not a few of its executives are grappling with a dilemma: what will ...
Searching for a CRISPR antidote in case gene editing is used as a weapon
[W]hat’s to stop a madman, terrorist, or state from employing CRISPR to cause harm?... In her book A Crack in Creation, ...
Testing human intelligence by putting our brain genes in monkeys
Human intelligence is one of evolution’s most consequential inventions. It is the result of a sprint that started millions of ...
Gene-editing rock stars: Geneticists set record with 13,200 CRISPR edits of single cell, opening door to ‘radical redesign’ of species
Since its invention, CRISPR has let scientists introduce DNA changes at specific locations in a genome. Often these precise changes ...
Top CRISPR researchers want global moratorium on heritable gene editing
After the first International Summit on Human Gene Editing in December 2015, a statement was released. The organizers were unanimous ...
Gene therapy could offer ‘one-time genetic tune-up’ for Alzheimer’s patients
No one knows for certain what causes Alzheimer’s disease. But one fact about the condition has gained nearly irrefutable status ...
Searching for ‘hidden talents’: Chinese parents turn to genetic tests for their toddlers
Fears of seeing their children fall behind their peers have left Chinese parents searching for anything to give them a ...
Can we slow aging by killing off toxic cells? This small human study passed its first test
A red-hot anti-aging strategy quietly passed its first test earlier this year after 14 volunteers took drugs meant to kill off ...
Did China’s CRISPR babies have their brains enhanced? It’s possible.
The brains of two genetically edited girls born in China last year may have been changed in ways that enhance ...
We are in the midst of a consumer DNA ‘testing frenzy’
By the start of 2019, more than 26 million consumers had added their DNA to four leading commercial ancestry and ...
Are DIY designer babies a real possibility?
[Bryan] Bishop, a 29-year-old programmer and Bitcoin investor, has been leaving a trail of comments about human “enhancement” on the ...
Stanford investigating whether faculty has ties to controversial Chinese CRISPR baby experiment
Officials at Stanford University have opened an investigation into what several high-profile faculty members knew about a Chinese effort to ...
Why we don’t have to worry about ‘designer babies’: Altering intelligence is too hard
One of the main worries that the public has about CRISPR is that it could be used to create “designer babies” with increased levels ...
Preventing opioid overdoses with a smart phone app that monitors breathing patterns
The opioid epidemic in the US kills 115 Americans every day, with fentanyl by far the biggest killer. Per year, drugs in ...
Why 2018 was such a big year for DNA data
These were some of the surprising new uses of DNA information that emerged over the last 12 months as genetic ...