Wired
Genome surgeons target genetic disease at the source
[Delaney Van Riper] was born with a rare genetic disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth, or CMT, which is slowly eroding her nerve cells’ ...
Diagnosing rare infectious diseases with genetic sequencing
Early last spring, as flu season hit its peak, a woman checked into a Houston hospital with all the familiar ...
DNA testing boom drives demand for genetic counselors
[W]ith precision medicine going mainstream and an explosion of apps piping genetic insights to your phone from just a few teaspoons of spit, ...
Designed for distraction: Why our brains find it difficult to focus
Laser focus leads to success, or so they say. Except it actually doesn’t. Researchers have found that rather than being ...
What’s the line between life and brain death? Artificial intelligence offers hope of digital simulation
Since the invention of bypass machines in the 1950s, which can artificially maintain circulation and respiration, death has come to ...
Genetically modified astronauts? Why humans may need to be redesigned for deep-space missions
NASA is now preparing for a human mission to Mars, but if our descendants ever shrug off their terrestrial bonds, ...
Paleocolor: What did dinosaurs look like? Shining a light on their true colors could illuminate behavior
Long thought an impossible dream, the emerging field of palaeocolour is revolutionising our view of the prehistoric world, turning it from black-and-white ...
Viewpoint: Using robots to treat autistic children has potential pitfalls
Previous research suggests robots are well received by children with autism spectrum disorders, and there's plenty of anecdotal stories of children ...
‘More infectious than Ebola’: Dangerous superbug yeast troubles researchers
[A] yeast, a new variety of an organism so common that it’s used as one of the basic tools of ...
Viewpoint: CRISPR-edited tomatoes illustrate our newfound power to ‘transform our food’
LIKE ANY SELF-RESPECTING farmer, Zachary Lippman was grumbling about the weather. Stout, with close-cropped hair and beard, Lippman was standing ...
From veganism to ‘post meat’ foods: The six varieties of meat substitutes
Civilians often clump the alternative meat companies and labs together in some kind of big meatless meatball, but, just like ...
Using CRISPR to build a ‘massive library’ of tools to cure genetic disease
In the past few years, [David] Liu’s become one of the most brightly-shining luminaries in the rapidly advancing field of gene ...
Will CRISPR gene editing disrupt or perpetuate global health and medical social inequalities?
On [June 3 and 4], hundreds of scientists, industry folk, and public health officials from all over the world filled ...
Robots could one day pass as humans. Should we let them?
[T]oday, ever-sophisticated robots are graduating from Disneyland-style animatronics into increasingly realistic, intelligent beings. Take the famous human replicas of Hiroshi Ishiguro. Or the ...
Ingestible digital pills use bioluminescent bacteria to sense stomach bleeding
Ingestible sensors—pill-sized electronics that ping your smartphone with data after you pop and swallow—have started to arrive on the market. They ...
ChatterBaby app wants to use artificial intelligence to diagnose autism through irregular baby cries
[B]y the time [Ariana] Anderson’s third kid came along, the UCLA computational neuropsychologist realized she had become fluent in baby ...
CRISPR may turn biology into the next Silicon Valley-like digital platform
Crispr, the powerful gene-editing tool, is revolutionizing the speed and scope with which scientists can modify the DNA of organisms, including ...
What’s CRISPR? Here’s a primer on the powerful gene-editing tool
If you’re asking, “what’s Crispr?” the short answer is that it’s a revolutionary new class of molecular tools that scientists ...
Can CRISPR be used safely in humans? ‘It’s still an open question’
Biotech has been betting big on Crispr, the gene-editing technique that promises to snip away some of humanity’s worst diseases. But last ...
Rewriting life’s code: Researchers want to synthesize the entire human genome
[Researcher George] Church is one of the leaders of an initiative called the Genome Project-Write, or GP-Write, which is organizing ...
Infertility could be ended with emerging technologies, including CRISPR
Through an emerging technology called in vitro gametogenesis (or IVG), scientists are learning how to convert adult human cells—taken perhaps ...
Cryogenics logistics: Delivering CAR-T treatments at minus 240 degrees to save lives
Last year, the FDA approved the first CAR T-cell treatments—a new class of promising therapies that train the body’s immune ...
Trying to lose weight? Don’t expect help from a personal genetics test
There are [genetic] tests tailored to tell you about your diet, your fitness, your complexion—even your wine preference. ... But researchers will tell ...
CAR-T cell therapy could drive a ‘revolution’ in cancer treatments
[T]he United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made the landmark decision to approve two ‘drugs’ that use CAR-T cell ...
Video: How is lab-grown meat made—and can it overcome the ‘ick factor’?
Food scientists and startups are trying to make meat more ethically appealing by growing it — cell by cell — ...
Gene drives and eliminating invasive pests without bloodshed
[Researcher Karl Campbell is] using a fiercely potent poison for the complete obliteration of rats on a 70-square-mile Galapagos island ...
Future Olympic athletes could be required to have their entire DNA sequenced to test for ‘gene doping’
For years, the World Anti-Doping Agency has considered requiring all Olympic athletes to submit copies of their genetic code. It ...
Finding a CRISPR delivery route in humans is the hard part
Crispr, the promising new gene editing technology, promises to eradicate the world of human suffering—but for all the hype and hope, it hasn’t ...
