Logo

George, Craig, and Freeman Walk into a Bar ...

Sep 14, 2007

Blaine Bettinger has a post on his blog today about a high-minded meeting that took place a few weeks ago. Called the Annual Edge Event (organized by the Edge Foundation), the meeting hosted George Church, Freeman Dyson, J. Craig Venter, Robert Shapiro, Dimitar Sasselov, and Seth Lloyd to discuss the topic "Life: What a Concept!"

While GTO wishes we could've been a fly on the wall for the actual event, we'll have to satisfy ourselves by seeing the talks and reading summaries online. Bettinger especially liked Church's session: "Although Dr. Church doesn’t discuss the Personal Genome Project, his brief discussion about our past and our future is very interesting," he writes.

 

Breaking News
The Scan

Positive Framing of Genetic Studies Can Spark Mistrust Among Underrepresented Groups

Researchers in Human Genetics and Genomics Advances report that how researchers describe genomic studies may alienate potential participants.

Small Study of Gene Editing to Treat Sickle Cell Disease

In a Novartis-sponsored study in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that a CRISPR-Cas9-based treatment targeting promoters of genes encoding fetal hemoglobin could reduce disease symptoms.

Gut Microbiome Changes Appear in Infants Before They Develop Eczema, Study Finds

Researchers report in mSystems that infants experienced an enrichment in Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Finegoldia and a depletion of Bacteroides before developing eczema.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment Specificity Enhanced With Stem Cell Editing

A study in Nature suggests epitope editing in donor stem cells prior to bone marrow transplants can stave off toxicity when targeting acute myeloid leukemia with immunotherapy.