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The Next Era of Gene Editing Will Be Disease Agnostic

At the WIRED Health summit last week, Harvard biochemist and gene-editing pioneer David Liu says later this year his lab plans to report on a single gene-editing strategy that could treat many unrelated diseases. He calls it disease-agnostic therapeutic gene editing. “It sounds sort of crazy, but there’s actually a very good molecular biology reason why this could be possible,” he told the audience in Boston, stopping short of details. Gene-editing treatments are currently being developed for

Whole-Genome Sequencing Will Change Pregnancy

The world of pregnancy is going to radically change, predicts Noor Siddiqui. “I think that the default way people are going to choose to have kids is via IVF and embryo screening,” she said at the WIRED Health summit last week. “There’s just a massive amount of risk that you can take off of the table.” Siddiqui is the founder and CEO of Orchid, a biotech company that offers whole-genome screening of embryos for IVF. By analyzing the DNA of different embryos before selecting which one to implant

How the Slavic Migration Reshaped Central and Eastern Europe

How the Slavic migration reshaped Central and Eastern Europe Genetic analyses of medieval human remains reveal large-scale migrations, regional diversity, and new insights into early medieval communities Excavation in 2020 at the pre-Slavic cemetery of Brücken, Mansfeld-Südharz District (Saxony-Anhalt). © Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt Excavation in 2020 at the pre-Slavic cemetery of Brücken, Mansfeld-Südharz District (Saxony-Anhalt). © Landesamt für Denkmalpflege u

This Orange Shark Is the Result of a Rare Genetic Double Whammy

The depths of the Caribbean host a spectacular array of marine life—including this nurse shark featuring vivid orange scales and cloudy white eyes. Last year, anglers on a fishing trip near Costa Rica with Parisima Domus Dei, a tourist company, reeled in what looked like a giant goldfish with shark-like chompers. After snapping some photos of the creature—about 6 feet (1.8 meters)—the fishermen let it go, later describing their strange encounter to marine experts. The researchers concluded tha

Scientists Say They've Created a New Form of Life More Perfect Than the One Nature Made

We've heard of GMOs, but this is ridiculous. Scientists at the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology say they've engineered a bacteria whose genetic code is more efficient than any other lifeform on Earth. They call their creation "Syn57," a bioengineered strain of E. coli — yes, the same bad boy that can make you extremely sick if you eat an undercooked hot dog — which uses seven less codons than all life on earth. A codon, put simply, is a three-letter sequence found in

Biologists Uncover Previously Unknown Structure Hiding Inside Human Cells

Even after decades of peering into cells, biologists are still finding surprises. In a twist, researchers at the University of Virginia and the National Institutes of Health uncovered a new organelle, dubbed the hemifusome. This tiny membrane-bound structure serves as a cellular recycling center and may hold the key to treating several genetic diseases. The research has been published in Nature Communications. “This is like discovering a new recycling center inside the cell,” co-author Seham E

UK watchdog fines 23andMe over 2023 data breach

In Brief The U.K. data protection watchdog has fined 23andMe £2.31 million ($3.1m) for failing to protect U.K. residents’ personal and genetic data prior to its 2023 data breach. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said on Tuesday it has fined the genetic testing company as it “did not have additional verification steps for users to access and download their raw genetic data” at the time of its cyberattack. In 2023, hackers stole private data on more than 6.9 million users’ over a mon

Anne Wojcicki’s nonprofit reaches deal to acquire 23andMe

Beleaguered genetic testing company 23andMe announced Friday that it has reached an agreement to sell itself to a nonprofit led by the company’s co-founder and former CEO Anne Wojcicki. Following a massive cyberattack in 2023 and a related lawsuit settlement, 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March, with Wojcicki resigning in order to become an independent bidder for the company. But pharmaceutical company Regeneron was announced as the company’s acquirer with a $256 million bid. According to th

Congress Demands Answers on Data Privacy Ahead of 23andMe Sale

US Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jan Schakowsky on Thursday sent letters to the two potential buyers of troubled genetic testing firm 23andMe demanding details about consumer data privacy should either of them acquire the company. Signed by 20 other Democratic members of Congress, the letters were sent to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and TTAM Research Institute, which have put forth separate bids to buy 23andMe. In the letters, they ask Regeneron and TTAM if they will continue to give custome