“My girlfriend was devastated to find out that my mates call me ‘The Love Machine’ because I’m terrible at tennis.”
Thứ Năm, 3 tháng 12, 2015
Thứ Tư, 2 tháng 12, 2015
Vichly44 / Getty Images / Via thinkstockphotos.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Worries about “designer babies” might obscure the threat of far more likely abuses from a fast-moving genetic engineering method, researchers warned Tuesday at an international scientific summit.
An era of elite athletes doping their genes with muscle-builders intended for the elderly, or of genetic treatments intended to boost cognition in Alzheimer’s patients infiltrating the business world, were among the abuses conjured up at the International Summit on Human Gene Editing.
Held at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and co-sponsored by science academies of China and the United Kingdom, the international summit this week features scientific and ethical presentations devoted to the brave, new world of genetic engineering promised by a new gene editing biotechnology called CRISPR. CRISPR, cribbed from bacterial genes, allows scientists to easily tinker with or remove DNA.
CRISPR led to the first genetic engineering of human embryos, reported in April by Chinese researchers who, after doing their initial experiments, imposed a temporary moratorium on it. In September, a British scientist asked for permission from the the United Kingdom’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to also attempt genetic modification of human embryos.
“Things are clearly moving very quickly and this deserves serious discussion,” said Jennifer Doudna of the University of California, Berkeley, who led the 2012 discovery of the gene editing method.
The summit came about because of deep concerns over the possibility of genetic tweaks to human embryos that would forever alter the “germline” DNA of babies in every cell of their bodies, including sperm and ovaries, with uncertain effects passed along to future generations.
But Harvard’s George Church said at the summit on Tuesday that worry about designer babies was overstated. The bigger risk, he suggested, is the use of this technology on so-called somatic cells, which are not passed on to offspring.
For example, Church said, this somatic editing could lead to gene doping in sports or of brain-boosting gene treatments, similar to abuse of stimulants in academia. “If we are going to worry about something in international competition, it will be somatic enhancement, not germline enhancement," he said.
Genetic tweaking in somatic cells is already happening in the medical realm. Researchers have applauded proposals to use CRISPR to treat diseases such as HIV, sickle cell anemia, and cancer, by editing the DNA inside of somatic cells in the blood. In March, Sangamo, one of at least three biotech firms pursuing gene editing of immune cells, launched a clinical trial that will tweak the genes of people with HIV.
Other meeting attendees echoed Church’s concerns. Bioethicist Insoo Hyun of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, said that genetically engineered immune cell treatments (such as those helping with muscle wasting in AIDS or cancer patients) could get in the hands of athletes for illicit use. Stem cell researcher George Daley of Boston Children’s Hospital acknowledged this was “a real worry” tied to FDA rules that allow doctors to prescribe “off-label” uses for prescription drugs. “We may want stricter rules in this case,” he said.
The FDA has already established regulations for older methods of gene editing that have been tried in human patients, bioethicist Alta Charo of the University of Wisconsin said. Such rules “become rigid over time,” she said, making them hard to change.
Another researcher at the summit, Jonathan Weissman of the University of California, San Francisco, suggested that gene editing might treat HIV, cancer, or other ailments without adding or removing DNA from cells in any way. Instead CRISPR can move around DNA markers that cells use to turn genes on and off.
He proposed giving people pills dosed with CRISPR proteins tuned in this way to deactivate a gene called CCR5 that makes people vulnerable to HIV, for example. Once they stop taking the pill, the gene would reactivate, obviating worries about permanent changes to genes.
Despite the progress in the field — illustrated by the journal Science releasing a paper on Tuesday reporting a way to improve the accuracy of CRISPR edits — scientists such as Nobel Prize Winner David Baltimore of Caltech cautioned that the basic biology of CRISPR needs more work before any of the promised benefits or worries will come true.
“The whole simplicity of the method is a little overhyped,” Baltimore said. “It’s not really something you can do in a garage.”
LINK: Chinese Study Of Human Embryos Raises Fears Of Designer Babies
LINK: The Pentagon Is Putting Big Money Into Synthetic Biology
LINK: Does Biotech Need Limits?
“We’re just two people who enjoy hockey and burgers.”
Newlyweds Erica Skuta and Lewis Blake live in New Zealand, but they're still huge fans of Skuta's hometown hockey team, Minnesota Wild.
"We definitely miss going to the games and we always say that if we move back to Minnesota we will be season ticket holders," Skuta told BuzzFeed Life, adding that they stream Wild games in New Zealand.
Instagram: @http://ift.tt/1IAU44w
Such big fans, in fact, that they went to Minnesota for their Nov. 29 wedding and caught a Wild game after their reception ended.
"When we got engaged, we both joked how neat it would be to do something a little different and have an after-reception party at a Wild game," Skuta said. "When the schedule was released at the start of the season and the game fell on the same day as the wedding, we had to go for it."
Instagram: @http://ift.tt/1NorEAs
So Blake and Skuta, who clearly DGAF, sat in the stands of Xcel Energy Center, wedding dress and all.
Their bridal party and many family members also attended the game.
While watching the Wild take on the Dallas Stars, Skuta devoured a burger — because who actually has time to eat at their own wedding?
Plus, stains and spillage don't matter once the reception's over, which is good, because she barely even takes her eyes off the game.
Skuta told BuzzFeed Life that they wanted to get on the Jumbotron — Blake had made a sign that said, "I flew 8,044 miles from New Zealand to be at this game (and to get married)," in hopes that they'd get a moment in the spotlight.
"After the sign was shown at the game we thought we were in the clear and I was excited to finally get a chance to eat some food... little did we know everyone at home was watching us," she said.
FOX Sports North / Via youtube.com
Thứ Ba, 1 tháng 12, 2015
Life is so good when your goggles don’t leak.
Patrick Hamilton / Getty Images
1. When your coach gives you the main set and you understand it the first time around.
2. When you jump in the pool and it's not as cold as you expected.
3. When the person swimming in front of you during practice gives off a really strong draft.
4. When you check out a heat sheet and see that you've been placed in the middle lane.
5. When flip turn and you hit the wall PERFECTLY (you know the feeling).
6. When your parents pick you up from practice and there's already food waiting in the car.
7. When you're able to put on a Fastskin faster than you anticipated.
8. When the blocks at a meet are the perfect height.
9. When the blocks at a meet are not slippery.
10. When you think you're about to hit someone's arm when you're swimming butterfly, but you both miss each other.
11. When you put on your cap perfectly the first time.
12. That moment when you just hit the water off the blocks and you realize your goggles DIDN'T leak.
13. When your coach tells you to put your pull gear on.
14. When your coach tells you to put your fins on.
15. When you're walking to the blocks with your relay and you feel like a superhero team.
16. The moment you get out of practice and you feel like you can eat lit'rally anything in the world.
17. Or when you get out of a meet and you decide to splurge and eat out.
18. When you touch out the person in the lane next to you during a race.
Suhaimi Abdullah / Getty Images
19. When you touch out the person in the lane next to you during practice, because you're hella competitive.
20. When you wake up early and realize you don't have morning practice that day.
21. Or when you wake up really early and realize you have enough time to fall back asleep before practice.
22. When you pick out a pull buoy that's the right size and isn't beat up.
23. When you get to the kickboard bin and your favorite kickboard is there (you know the one).
24. When you skip practice and find out later it was a test set.
25. When a really good song comes on the speakers during a sprint set.
26. Peeing in the pool.
27. The first time you dive into the water after shaving for a big meet.
28. Wearing a new pair of goggles for the first time.
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