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Biotechnology

What Will ‘Drag and Drop’ Gene Editing Do for You? Find Out on Ask an Expert [Video]

Jason Dorrier
Sep 10, 2015

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Biotechnology is moving blindingly fast: From $1,000 human genome sequencing to CRISPR gene editing, we're approaching an era when scientists can edit and rewrite the source code of life. Physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson beautifully put it like this: "A new generation of artists will be writing genomes as fluently as Blake and Byron wrote verses." The prospect terrifies some and excites others.

But is "drag-and-drop" gene editing overhyped? And what can biotechnology do for us?

Raymond McCauley, chair of the biotech track at Singularity University and co-founder and chief architect of Biocurious, answers questions about biotechnology and bioinformatics and digital biology. Some of the topics covered this week include CRISPR gene editing and biohacking our way out of poverty.

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Have a question about neuroscience, artificial intelligence, or another emerging technology? Tweet us at @singularityu with the hashtag #AskSU. The experts within the community at Singularity University will address questions in upcoming episodes, so be sure to subscribe to Ask an Expert to get the latest.

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Jason is editorial director at SingularityHub. He researched and wrote about finance and economics before moving on to science and technology. He's curious about pretty much everything, but especially loves learning about and sharing big ideas and advances in artificial intelligence, computing, robotics, biotech, neuroscience, and space.

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