Customizing the Human Race with CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing Technology

CRISPR technology could change the world. Essentially, CRISPR is a technique that allows scientists to make precision edits to any DNA, whether bacterial or human. The potential for this technology is huge: if scientists have the accuracy to replace just a few faulty genes, it might be possible to cure genetic disorders as serious as cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease and as common as lactose intolerance and color-blindness. Dr. Sam Sternberg, CRISPR expert and protein-RNA biochemist, joins the Curiosity Podcast to explain the science, ethics, and future of this cutting-edge technology.

Samuel H. Sternberg, PhD, will be starting his own research laboratory at Columbia University in early 2018, as an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. Along with Jennifer Doudna, he is the co-author of A Crack in Creation, a popular science book about the discovery, development, and applications of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology.

Additional resources discussed:

• Samuel H. Sternberg, PhD official website
• "A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution"
• "Gattaca" (1997 film starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman)
• 'Three-parent baby' claim raises hopes — and ethical concerns (Nature)
• Genome-editing revolution: My whirlwind year with CRISPR (Jennifer Doudna's article in Nature)
• Useful Mutants, Bred With Radiation (New York Times)
• Sorry Hipsters, That Organic Kale Is a Genetically Modified Food (Smithsonian)
• Gene Editing Makes Cows Without Horns (Popular Science)
• Ben Mezrich's Woolly Mammoth Book Being Adapted Into Movie by Fox
• "Woolly: The True Story of the Quest to Revive One of History's Most Iconic Extinct Creatures"
• How to Extract DNA from a Strawberry (YouTube)
• 23andMe direct-to-consumer genetic testing
• Neutron-Star Collision Reveals Origin of Gold, Astronomers Say (Live Science)
• Astronomers Strike Gravitational Gold In Colliding Neutron Stars (NPR)

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Full episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/customizing-the-human-race-with-crispr-cas9-genome-editing-technology

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