Why you fear science and robots | Fear of the unknown
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown" – H.P. Lovecraft (1927). The thing about fearing…
CRISPR weapons? The dark side of gene editing
Did you know that US intelligence has listed gene-editing technologies like CRISPR-Cas as weapons of mass destruction threats in the Worldwide Threat Assessment? The technology we’ve welcomed as our disease-fighting,…
Image by PDPics from Pixabay
Are CRISPR designed babies the future? Update 1 year after birth
The German news site n-tv.de interviewed me about a week ago about the possibilities and risks of the CRISPR gene-editing technology. The reason for this piece was the first anniversary…
Can we treat diseases with Cas12a (CRISPR)? Modifying multiple genes.
A Swiss team figured out how to modify multiple genes in one cell using the gene-editing CRISPR system Cas12a. What do the findings mean for disease treatment strategies? Can we…
The S.H.I.T. Show attracted the bunch.
S.H.I.T. Show to the people! (an update)
OK, so we arranged our first ever Science&Health Informal Talk (S.H.I.T.) Show in Amsterdam. We uploaded pictures from it on our social media, but where’s that written update we promised…
The S.H.I.T. Show attracted the bunch.
The S.H.I.T. Show and how it all started, Interview with the organizers
If you haven’t heard, the Ivory Embassy is organizing the upcoming Science & Health Informal Talk Show (or the S.H.I.T. Show). The event, DNA Manipulation: Treating Diseases and Designing Babies…
First CRISPR babies born in China | Is that a good thing?
It finally happened. The CRISPR babies born in China were the first gene-edited babies ever! Or that’s the claim at least.He Jiankui, a scientist from the Southern University of Science…
The top 6 limitations of CRISPR for successful treatments
China started CRISPR clinical trials already in 2015. The US came shortly after. Why so few diseases targeted? What are the limitations of CRISPR technology for clinical applications? Damn, this…
CRISPR resistance
You might be resistant to CRISPR-Cas9 – but there are still ways around it
It looks like there could be a setback for CRISPR-Cas9 as a gene therapy option for humans. Last year ended well for the gene-editing tool, and we got one step…
CRISPR-Cas9 explained simply | A powerful DNA-cutter?
CRISPR-Cas is the tool that is on people’s lips right now, not only scientists' (in our opinion, at least). The media discusses designer babies, disease-resistant crops, and many other applications.…