“The first email I read, every morning, is News Items.” — Rick Cordella, President, NBC Sports.
1. MIT Technology Review:
Brian Armstrong, the billionaire CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, says he’s ready to fund a US startup focused on gene-editing human embryos. If he goes forward, it would be the first major commercial investment in one of medicine’s most fraught ideas.
In a post on X June 2, Armstrong announced he was looking for gene-editing scientists and bioinformatics specialists to form a founding team for an “embryo editing” effort targeting an unmet medical need, such as a genetic disease.
“I think the time is right for the defining company in the US to be built in this area,” Armstrong posted.
The announcement from a deep-pocketed backer is a striking shift for a field considered taboo following the 2018 birth of the world’s first genetically edited children in China—a secretive experiment that led to international outrage and prison time for the lead scientist.
According to Dieter Egli, a gene-editing scientist at Columbia University whose team has briefed Armstrong, his plans may be motivated in part by recent improvements in editing technology that have opened up a safer, more precise way to change the DNA of embryos. (Source: technologyreview.com)
2. I wrote a column on the politics of embryo editing back in January and posted it at Political News Items. The thrust of the column was that embryo editing may soon become the new cri de coeur of the “pro-life” movement. You can read that column by clicking on this link. I’ll be posting a follow-up later this week (at Political News Items). (Source: politicalitems.substack.com)
3. Jon B. Wolfsthal, Hans Kristensen and Matt Korda:
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