In late May, several scientific organizations, including the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT), banded together to call for a 10-year moratorium on using CRISPR and related technologies to pursue human heritable germline editing. The declaration also outlined practical steps that countries and research institutions could take to discourage this sort of experimentation, […]
Barely Sleep and Still Feel Fine? Thank Your Lucky Genes
Boy, some people have all the genetic luck. In a recent study, scientists describe a newly discovered mutation that allows humans to naturally sleep much fewer hours a night without any negative health effects. Researchers in China conducted the study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The mutation was found in a 70-year-old […]
Dinosaur Purse? Scientists Aren’t Buying This T. Rex Leather Claim
Three companies have joined forces to develop a new luxury alternative to traditional leather. That sounds ordinary—except the material they’re trying to create is anything but. On Friday, April 25, creative agency VML and biotech companies Lab-Grown Leather Ltd. and The Organoid Company announced a “first-of-its-kind” partnership. Their goal: to create a cruelty-free, environmentally friendly, […]
Has the Dire Wolf Truly Been Resurrected? We Asked the Experts
The single splashiest bit of science news so far this year arrived earlier this week, when Colossal Biosciences announced that its scientists successfully brought back a version of the dire wolf (Aenocyon dirus). In the company’s announcement, Colossal has claimed that its three “dire wolf” siblings, Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi, are the world’s first examples […]