The Ethics of Human Germline Editing with Francoise Baylis
In this episode, I speak with Professor Francoise Baylis, a renowned Canadian bioethicist whose work lies at the intersection of applied ethics, health policy, and practice. We talk about the ethics of research on human embryos -- at what date the line should be drawn -- and whether it practically and morally makes sense to allow for human germline editing.
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44:26
George Church -- The Godfather of Synthetic Biology, CRISPR, and De-Extinction (Ep. 10)
In this episode, I speak with George Church—pioneer of human genome sequencing, co-inventor of CRISPR, and founder of over 50 biotech startups—on the future of synthetic biology: virus-proof cells, multiplex gene editing, and what it takes to reverse aging. We talk Ginkgo’s trajectory, 23andMe’s missed opportunity, and why the next bio revolution will be built on AI, not pipettes.0:00 Intro to George Church 0:54 New Innovations in the Lab 4:34 Is Synthetic Bio Scalable? 11:44 Ginko Bioworks Failure 16:33 AI Drug Discovery 17:54 Genome Sequencing 22:37 23andMe: What Went Wrong26:11 Carrier Screening28:31 Dor Yesherim & Carrier Matching 31:52 Cost of Gene Therapies 34:20 Germline Editing ABOUT MEHi, my name is Shriya; I'm a sophomore at Harvard and the host of the Bio/Acc Podcast. I started this podcast out of the Harvard Bioethics Communication Initiative to conduct deeply researched interviews with the world's most interesting people in biotech.Produced by @RishabJainSOCIAL LINKS:🎤 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4m42...🎤 Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...See our Website: https://bioacceleration.com/Connect w/ Shriya on Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/shriya-bhat-0b845b203Let us know what you think in the comments below! Subscribe to our channel for more podcasts.
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40:06
The Mind-Bending Science of Staying Alive -- Carl Zimmer on Aging, AGI, and Brain Organoids (Ep. 9)
In this episode, I speak with award-winning NYT science writer Carl Zimmer (“Life’s Edge”, “She Has Her Mother’s Laugh”) on the verbs of biology—homeostasis, life being organized rebellion against entropy, and whether brain organoids might wake up while we’re not looking.
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30:39
Jamie Metzl - Will Humanity Survive Gene Editing and AI? (Ep. 8)
In this episode, I talk with Jamie Metzl — geopolitical futurist, former WHO advisor, and author of Superconvergence — about the future of gene editing, AGI, and the existential risks no one is talking about. We cover CRISPR will rewrite evolution and society, and why AGI is a myth (and what we're really building).
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44:22
Aubrey de Grey on Immortality, Longevity Research, and How to Live for 200 Years (Ep. 7)
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Aubrey de Grey, a leading researcher in the longevity space and co-founder of the SENS Research Foundation, known for his groundbreaking work in developing therapies that reverse DNA damage at the cellular level. We talk about the latest breakthroughs in aging science, what aging research looks like in a post-AGI world, and the challenges facing the longevity movement.
The Bio Accelerationism (bio/acc) podcast. Deeply researched interviews about fascinating topics from biotech and research.
Podcast hosted by Shriya Bhat, a Harvard Sophomore from the Harvard Bioethics Communication Initiative (BCI).
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