ellen jorgensen

intro’d to Ellen via her 2016 tedsummit – What you need to know about CRISPR:

this science is moving much faster than the regulatory systems that govern it.. my mission – to help as money people understand this

if you try a crispr genome.. the first thing have to do is damage dna.. repair processes kick in .. and then we convince the repair processes to make edit we want .. and not a natural edit

guide rna (targeting mech) and cas9 protein (warhead) combo called crispr (guided missile) – a system we stole from ancient bacterial immune system..

the part that’s amazing.. is the guide rna.. only 20 letters of it are what target the system.. easy to design.. cheap to buy

3 min – in process.. split dna and have cell in panic.. calls first responder

hijack by feeding false piece of dna.. ie: change letter… take letter out.. stuff new dna in

crispr is going to be amazing.. this modular targeting system.. can put exactly where we want it..

lot of talk about it being cheap/easy.. people starting to ask if they can use crispr to engineer genome… because cheap/easy..

how cheap – 1000s to 100s.. cut time from weeks to days.. but still need a professional lab.. can’t do on kitchen table..

even if you did invent something.. big patent battle going on .. fascinating to watch..

? whoa.

not going to be settled for years.. then.. huge licensing fee to use it

we don’t really know that much about cells..

used by scientists to make better models.. of diseases in animals.. basic research in what genes do.. this is the story we should be telling.. not the flashier aspect…

these scientists are being supported by our society.. we have an infrastructure that allows a certain amount of people spend all their time doing research..

perhaps that’s our flaw.. why aren’t we all doing research..?

ie: a nother way.. for (blank)’s sake…

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2012 ted – biohacking .. you can do it too

great time to be a molecular biologist.. biotech probably most powerful and fastest growing sector.. to touch every aspect of our daily lives.. so who gets to do it

2009 – diy bio – makes bio tech available to everyone.. not just scientists/people in govt labs.. could really stimulate innovation.. end user.. best ideas of what their needs are…

we scientists are lousy at explaining to people what we are doing in those labs.. so 3 yrs ago.. got together with friends.. and founded genspace.. community biotech lab in brooklyn ny

the more press we got.. the more people wanted to create next frankinstein..

we knew all over world.. people doing same thing.. opening bio hacker spaces.. w/less resources et al

now.. vibrant global community.. each w/own individual flavor.. growing out of community..

spirit of labs.. open ness.. but many think – hazard.. have to look at both amateur and professional groups..

so un recently issued report.. concluded power for positive greater than negative..

press consistently overestimated our capabilities and underestimated our ethics

if working with pathogen.. not part of bio hacker community.. part of bio terrorist community..

chance of accident.. creating some super bug..could happen.. but i’m not going to plan my life around it..

i signed up for personal genome project.. study at harvard.. posted online for everyone to see.. ie: someone could download my sequence and plant it in a crime scene..

her ie’s at 8 min..

sounds like she’s done a 180..? from 2012 to 2016.. what am i missing..?

something sacred about a space where you don’t have to justify that it will make a lot of money or save mankind..

spaces like this all over world could change perception of who’s allowed to do biotech.. if everyone got involved.. who knows what we can do..

from above: ‘these scientists are being supported by our society.. we have an infrastructure that allows a certain amount of people spend all their time doing research..’

from world better if everyone a hacker.. to being fascinated with patent war.. that will delay findings and then make (limited – because not all of us and delayed) findings cost a ton

so different..

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