Lifeboat Foundation

Two CRISPR tools for combinatorial genetic perturbations reveal gene regulatory networks.

A large team of biomedical researchers affiliated with a host of institutions across the U.S., the U.K., Saudi Arabia and France, has learned more about many of the factors involved in xenotransplantation as they conducted a large number of tests on two brain-dead human patients that had received genetically engineered pig hearts.

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Tuberous sclerosis is a rare genetic disease that causes benign tumors to grow in the brain and other organs. The disease can be mild, or it can cause severe disabilities. Tuberous sclerosis has no cure, but treatments can help symptoms. More info here.

Tuberous sclerosis (TSC) is a rare genetic disease. It causes benign tumors in the brain and other organs. Learn about symptoms and what can help.

A trailblazer in the field of therapeutic genome editing, Fyodor D. Urnov’s research focuses on developing medicines for devastating genetic diseases.

Denis Noble discusses common misconceptions in genetics. Are our genes really as deterministic as we think they are?Watch the full talk] at https://iai.tv/vid…

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I met Prof. Ed Boyden at last year’s Global Future 2045 conference in New York. There I was highly impressed with Boyden’s impressive work in neuroscience in general and optogenetics in particular, as well as the profound implications it would have on our ability to understand and manipulate the brain. And so I knew instantly I must bring him for an interview.

Genomics is revolutionizing medicine and science, but current approaches still struggle to capture the breadth of human genetic diversity. Pangenomes that incorporate many people’s DNA could be the answer, and a new project thinks quantum computers will be a key enabler.

When the Human Genome Project published its first reference genome in 2001, it was based on DNA from just a handful of humans. While less than one percent of our DNA varies from person to person, this can still leave important gaps and limit what we can learn from genomic analyses.

That’s why the concept of a pangenome has become increasingly popular. This refers to a collection of genomic sequences from many different people that have been merged to cover a much greater range of human genetic possibilities.

CRISPR was first discovered in bacteria as a defense mechanism, suggesting that nature hides a bounty of CRISPR components. For the past decade, scientists have screened different natural environments—for example, pond scum—to find other versions of the tool that could potentially increase its efficacy and precision. While successful, this strategy depends on what nature has to offer. Some benefits, such as a smaller size or greater longevity in the body, often come with trade-offs like lower activity or precision.

Rather than relying on evolution, can we fast-track better CRISPR tools with AI?

This week, Profluent, a startup based in California, outlined a strategy that uses AI to dream up a new universe of CRISPR gene editors. Based on large language models—the technology behind the popular ChatGPT—the AI designed several new gene-editing components.