#198 CRISPR Ethics with Sam Sternberg

DNA Today: A Genetics Podcast

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Our guest this week is Dr. Sam Sternberg, who is a protein-RNA biochemist and CRISPR expert. He runs a research laboratory at Columbia University, where he is an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics.

Sam's lab explores the biology of CRISPR-Cas systems and transposable elements, and develops these systems for genome engineering. In addition to publishing his research in leading journals and speaking internationally, Sam remains actively involved in public outreach and ongoing discussions on the ethical issues surrounding genome editing. Together with Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna, he co-authored a popular science book about the discovery, development, and applications of CRISPR technology. Titled A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution, which chronicles the development of CRISPR and explores bioethical aspects of the technology. Their book was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and The New York Review of Books called it “required reading for every concerned citizen.”

Sam received his B.A. in Biochemistry from Columbia University in 2007 and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 2014. He earned graduate student fellowships from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense, and was awarded the Scaringe Award from the RNA Society and the Harold Weintraub Graduate Student Award from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Sam worked as a Scientist and Group Leader at Caribou Biosciences before beginning his independent position at Columbia in 2018, and he is the recipient of the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, and is a Sloan Fellow, Pew Biomedical Scholar, and Schaefer Research Scholar.

On This Episode We Discuss:

Safety, ethical, regulatory considerations for using CRISPR technology

Off target effects

Working directly with Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Jennifer Doudna

The 3 major areas of CRISPR applications

Fertility research

Animal studies

Human genetics

Enter our giveaway for your own copy of A Crack In Creation through our social media!

For updates on the Sternberg lab, visit their website or follow Sam on Twitter and LinkedIn! You can also read one of his most recent papers on the profiling of CRISPR RNA-guided transposition products here.

Stay tuned for the next new episode of DNA Today on August 26th, 2022! New episodes are released on Fridays. In the meantime, you can binge over 195 other episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, streaming on the website, or any other podcast player by searching, “DNA Today”. Episodes since 2021 are also recorded with video which you can watch on our YouTube channel.

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