Shelly Fan
Alzheimer’s disease targeted with gene therapy trial
There’s a test for Alzheimer’s risk that genetic counselors don’t like to talk about. It’s not that they’re hiding the ...
Gene drives reach their next frontier: Mammals
Tiny snippets of engineered DNA, gene drives are nuclear-grade powerhouses that utterly destroy the rules of inheritance. Rather than the classic ...
‘Not just eye candy’: New mapping technique could help unlock brain’s mysteries
[In mid January], 18 institutions teamed up and devised a method to image entire brains 1,000 times faster than anything ...
Improving CRISPR gene editing of human cells with an ‘off switch’
For all its gene-editing prowess, mechanistically CRISPR is a bit like a power tool with a broken “off” switch. Hear ...
How new technologies are ‘disrupting’ human reproduction
[On December 4], news of CRISPR-engineered babies launched a firestorm of debate on the future of human reproduction. … But even as ...
Can we restore ‘sight’ with brain implants, electrical currents?
In a sense, our eyes are sophisticated cameras; the brain’s visual cortex runs the software that tells us what we’re seeing. … What about ...
Can we use plants to grow human tissue and body parts?
[Dr. Andrew Pelling] wanted to see whether grocery-store-bought plants can supply the necessary structure for engineering replacement human tissues. … Under ...
Personalized medicine, big data could lead to better control of our own health
At Singularity University’s Exponential Medicine conference in San Diego ... Dr. Ran Balicer, director of the Clalit Research Institute in Israel, painted a ...
MRI in a ski hat? Seeking better ways to hack our brains
[A]t Singularity University’s Exponential Medicine conference in San Diego, technologists presented new non-invasive devices that seek to simplify and democratize brain modulation ...
‘De-extinction’ engineers dream of reviving the lost passenger pigeon
Once the dominant species in eastern North America, passenger pigeons roamed the forests in giant flocks up to several billions ...
Redefining reproduction? Immature human eggs made from blood cells
We all know how babies are made: sperm meets egg, molecular magic happens, and an entire human comes to life ...
No more words? BrainNet enables ‘brain-to-brain’ communication, Tetris-like game play
What if we could do away with words altogether? What if, rather than relying on an intermediary, we could directly ...
‘Theory of mind’: Why artificial intelligence needs to understand how we think
What AI needs, [said Dr. Jun Wang at University College London] is a type of deep communication skill that stems from a critical human ...
Project Recode: Can we create synthetic ‘superhero’ human cells immune to viruses, cancer and aging?
Recently, roughly 200 eminent scientists assembled in Boston. Their agenda? Creating “superhero” human cells impervious to all viral attacks and ...
Can zapping our brains with electricity boost learning?
A new study sheds light on why transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) -- now being tried by do-it-yourselfers -- doesn't ...
Leukemia treatment using lab-grown blood ‘tantalizingly close’
A bone marrow transplant is often the only chance for survival [for patients with leukemia and other blood disorders]...Unfortunately, like ...
Will DNA become new storage medium for digital data?
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. To most of us, ...
