Will gene drive eliminate Lyme disease and malaria? │ Dr. George Church
Get the full length version of this episode as a podcast.
This episode will make a great companion for a long drive.
The Omega-3 Supplementation Guide
A blueprint for choosing the right fish oil supplement — filled with specific recommendations, guidelines for interpreting testing data, and dosage protocols.
Gene drive is a natural process and a tool used in genetic engineering that spreads a specific set of genes throughout a population of organisms. While normally, the chance of inheriting a specific gene from your mother or father is 50%, gene drives increase the likelihood of inheritance, increasing the density of alleles in a family over generations. Geneticists like Dr. George Church, believe gene drives could be used to eliminate pathogens carried by insects, such as malaria, which is carried by a small number of mosquito species, or Lyme disease, which is carried by deer ticks. While this could transform public health, there may be consequences to altering ecosystems in this way. In this clip, Dr. George Church discusses the opportunities and possible dangers of tools for genetic engineering.
This transcript is reserved for members.
FoundMyFitness Members get access to exclusive content not available anywhere else, including a transcript of this episode.
You wouldn't believe how cool being a premium member of the world's best cross-disciplinary science-focused website and podcast really is.
Member only extras:
Learn more about the advantages of a premium membership by clicking below.
Get email updates with the latest curated healthspan research
Support our work
Every other week premium members receive a special edition newsletter that summarizes all of the latest healthspan research.
Genetic engineering News
- Vitamin B12 supports metabolic processes involved in stem cell reprogramming and tissue repair.
- Ovarian cancer tumors, even at advanced stages, may be effectively targeted and eliminated by CAR-T immune therapies, a new study in mice suggests.
- ‘Gene silencing’ therapy reduces lipoprotein(a), an important risk factor of heart disease, by up to 98%
- Gene therapy for thalassemia ends need for transfusions in young children
- Designer cytokine restores spinal cord function in mice.
