Scientific MOOCs follower. Author of Airpocalypse, a techno-medical thriller (Out Summer 2017)


Welcome to the digital era of biology (and to this modest blog I started in early 2005).

To cure many diseases, like cancer or cystic fibrosis, we will need to target genes (mutations, for ex.), not organs! I am convinced that the future of replacement medicine (organ transplant) is genomics (the science of the human genome). In 10 years we will be replacing (modifying) genes; not organs!


Anticipating the $100 genome era and the P4™ medicine revolution. P4 Medicine (Predictive, Personalized, Preventive, & Participatory): Catalyzing a Revolution from Reactive to Proactive Medicine.


I am an early adopter of scientific MOOCs. I've earned myself four MIT digital diplomas: 7.00x, 7.28x1, 7.28.x2 and 7QBWx. Instructor of 7.00x: Eric Lander PhD.

Upcoming books: Airpocalypse, a medical thriller (action taking place in Beijing) 2017; Jesus CRISPR Superstar, a sci-fi -- French title: La Passion du CRISPR (2018).

I love Genomics. Would you rather donate your data, or... your vital organs? Imagine all the people sharing their data...

Audio files on this blog are Windows files ; if you have a Mac, you might want to use VLC (http://www.videolan.org) to read them.

Concernant les fichiers son ou audio (audio files) sur ce blog : ce sont des fichiers Windows ; pour les lire sur Mac, il faut les ouvrir avec VLC (http://www.videolan.org).


Gene Editing Tale

https://fr.pinterest.com/dalyapallot


Gene Editing Tale,

A black cat
Taking a stroll in a CRISP cold aiR
Sees a dog with such a white fur
It makes him purr.
The dog was running so fast

Stops cold,
Cat startled.

«  Where do you work? »
« - In barking-mad science »
« Me, in a China shop. »
There was silence
Between them. 
Both at a loss
Struggling to understand what stopped them.
Looking at the cobblestone
In vain
« It must be something in the air, then »
Said the dog. « - I wouldn’t know, » said the cat.
« I’m only dealing with porcelain
And price tags. And also, I work at night. »
« Touching anything without breaking it. »

The dog has had enough of white
The cat was tired of night shift.

« Because of the air,
I think we can help each other. »

« But how?? » The dog felt stupid for stopping and listening.
They both voiced their disliking
For each other. « - It ’s in our genes. »
Experimenting that CRISP thing in the aiR on our genes
Will change medicine. 
Let’s spare the lab rats. The cat felt the passion
In the dog’s eyes.
The dog’s mind was racing.
In the CRISP aiR
They began to fear
Both may be turned into one cow,
Bacteria science getting trickier.

I want Star Trek science, not mad science,
Ironized the cat. There was silence.
The dog started regretting the whole thing,
Afraid of becoming a fat cow he stopped eating.

« Because of the air,
I think we can help each other. »

« Did you just say something? »
«  - Me? No, » answered the cat.
Now the air was talking.
«  I’m confused. Air is not a country, it has no language. Air just
shuts up. «  - In a China shop, air is a polyglot, »
Said the cat. He seemed to know about
CRISP aiR more than the dog,
A mad-science rock star.

« We have to work together.
Not because of you, not because of me.
Because of the air. »

They listened, as the air started
Talking in Spanish and Python.
« Is the air coding genes
To edit our proteins? »
« - Meh », shrugged the cat.
Dog voicing regret,
But it was too late.
The air could also speak AI.
Radiologists got edited out
Of medicine. Cat became art,
A mona lisa with the cat’s tongue.
Dog was edited into Spock.

« Because of the air,
I think we can help each other. »

Rhyming genes.
« I feel stupid for liking you »
Said Spock the dog to
Hungry Mona Lisa. 

« Changing medicine
Must be like painting genes.
It's been centuries,
But nobody can explain Mona Lisa's smiles. »

Patient is Data
Doctor is Software.
Define data:
3 billion DNA base pairs
20 tera octet; 20,000 gigas
20,000 billion information per patient,
We each have 2 million mutations
Faced with the reference genome;
But far fewer diseases;
25 million mutations per cancer cell.
The analysis of all this requires Principal component analysis (PCA)
With up to 800 million factors
Doctor House himself
Could not analyze 20 tera bytes of data per patient
Within 15 minutes, which should include
Patient unclothing and dressing again.

Mona’s smile is an Algorithm 
Cat and dog both here to serve Him.

« Because of the air,
I think we can help each other. »

A.I. and CRISP aiR,
Getting along like cat and dog,

Vous ne pourrez bientôt plus vous opposer au prélèvement de vos organes





Petit rappel : depuis début 2017, le consentement présumé au don de ses organes à sa mort a été renforcé dans la loi (lois biomédicales).  Les proches n'auront plus la possibilité de s'opposer à des prélèvements d'organes si les équipes soignantes ont opté pour cette voie, suite à un diagnostic de "mort encéphalique" dont les critères, rappelons-le, n'ont jamais été définis de manière uniforme d'un pays sur l'autre ... La mort encéphalique équivaut à une incompétence du cerveau, à un coma dépassé, ce qui n'équivaut pas strictement à la mort ...

Bon courage à tous ! On attend à présent la loi qui va nous interdire de nous opposer au prélèvement de nos organes ... sous peine d'emprisonnement. Déjà qu'on n'a pas le droit de faire séquencer son génome de sa propre initiative en France ... A suivre  ...


Skype Doll


CRISPR, a geopolitical editing tool in med thriller "Airpocalyse"

Illustration by Florence Cartozo

« In the US science has to be religion-compliant and middle-class is shrinking, whereas in China religion has to be science-compliant and middle-class is expanding. »

Lenoir, a French cardiac surgeon in my upcoming medical thriller Airpocalypse.

Airpocalypse tells the story of U.S. & Chinese efforts to prevent the merger of two silos: well-funded terrorist organization Daesh & organ trafficking in Xinjiang, a Muslim Chinese province. Until now, genomics and geopolitics were two separate silos. Cool gene editing tool CRISPR is a game changer, as it is not only a scientific tool. Also, it is becoming a geopolitics editing tool. 

Author: Catherine Coste

Copyrighted material

Genomic Entertainment With Rappers




Genomic Entertainment With Rappers - My list: Eminem, Rick Ross, T.I., Drake. Trying to adapt this text, to start with: The Bismillah of DNA (lyrics by Catherine Coste)

Drake
Thank me later
Rick Ross
Teflon Don

Rick ross & Drake

Made men

The Game Ft. T.I. & Robin Thicke - Pushin' It

The Bismillah Of DNA 

Jungle Genomic Book
3 billion base pages 
Of As, Ts, Cs and Gs 
Not informative.
3 billion phenotypes:
Holy Grail
Big Pharma 
One Blockbuster.
New tool
For evolution
Found
In ancestral species:
RNAs.
3 billion phenotypes:
Holy Grail.
Big Pharma 
One Blockbuster.
Genes replicating,
Expanding,
Travelling without moving.

At the beginning 
Of life:
No Copyright Infringement
Madness. 
Lawyers:
Nucleic acid
Replicating machines,
Viruses
Wreaking havoc. 
3 billion phenotypes:
Holy Grail.
Big Pharma 
One Blockbuster.

At the beginning
Of life:
RNA Interference Madness.
The cop
Protecting « Purple » 
Killing « Elprup ».

Mirror images:
Vade retro,
Omnia Vanitas 
Virus.
3 billion phenotypes:
Holy Grail.
Big Pharma 
One Blockbuster.

Evolution with cop:
Cutting through proteins.
Doctor's stethoscope, 
Out of Patient's scope,
Has fallen into disuse.
Blockchain and Smartphone, 
Playing Doctor on 
Periscope.

I am a Uighur
Looking for the Bismillah of DNA
I am looking for the Bismillah
Of DNA 
Of RNA
The Sunnah of Biology

They say
DNA makes RNA makes Protein
The Sunnah the better
The Sunnah you understand
Biology
The better.

Looking for the Bismillah of DNA
I found viruses
RNA viruses
Their genomes are made of RNA
But they eventually
Make a copy
A DNA copy
Of their RNA genome
And integrate it
Into the host 
Organism.

Looking for the Bismillah of DNA
The Sunnah of biology
I discovered 
This is the first time 
The central dogma
Ever went backwards.

The Bismillah of DNA
Is not as dogmatic
As we originally thought -
Looking for the Sunnah of Biology
I ended up with a Nobel

Prize.

Painting Genes

Genomic Entertainment Project (cont'd)

Painting Genes / Cézanne Peint, a song by France Gallhttps://youtu.be/cB8kQm-CmHY

Paul Cézanne, autoportrait

GEORGE CHURCH

Of course, French painter Cézanne is… US scientist George Church...

French singer France Gall
French scientist (biologist) Emmanuelle Charpentier
... and France Gall is… Emmanuelle Charpentier ;-) 

Painting Genes


Performing: Emmanuelle Charpentier as France Gall, as Emmanuelle is a French native speaker. So she knows the song, right?

Painting Genes - Lyrics by Catherine Coste, but everyone is welcome to try to sing along...

The beating heart of
DNA in a smile
On Mona Lisa’s lips.
Heredity writing,
Editing her genome.
Mona going global,
Digitize DNA
At the speed of light and
Love in her art.

Oxygen produced by
Plants and bacteria
All regulated by
DNA.
The Louvre in Paris inside each of us and oh
Everywhere
Around us. Mona’s museum in Paris will
Become an art and gene
Editing tool. She’s still
Smiling. Did she find...


... The art and science
Of impossibly
Complex DNA,
Repositories
That are being forked
And modified all 
Around us, living
Things, zeros and ones,
Four chemicals,
All seeing past my skin
Right into my soul,
Making mistakes when
Copying
DNA. Do you call cancer cells science or
Painting genes?
The Cézanne of CRISPR, cool gene editing tool,
His flowing beard smiling,
Painting genes with the brush
Strokes of da Vinci.
The canvas’ soul
Is Python.

Painting genes…

Painting Genes

Silence les grillons 5
The beating heart of
Sur les branches immobiles 6
DNA in a smile
Les arbres font des rayons 6
On Mona Lisa’s lips.
Et des ombres subtiles 6
Heredity writing,
Silence dans la maison 6
Editing her genome.
Silence sur la colline 6
Mona going global,
Ces parfums qu'on devine 6
Digitize DNA
C'est l'odeur de saison 6
At the speed of light and
Mais voilà l'homme 4
Love in her art.
Sous son chapeau de paille 6
Oxygen produced by
Des taches plein sa blouse 5
Plants and bacteria
Et sa barbe en bataille 6
All regulated by
Cézanne peint 3
DNA.
Il laisse s'accomplir la magie de ses mains 12
The Louvre in Paris inside each of us and oh
Cézanne peint 3
Everywhere
Et il éclaire le monde pour nos yeux qui n'voient rien 12
Around us. Mona’s museum in Paris will
Si le bonheur existe 6
Become an art and gene
C'est une épreuve d'artiste 6
Editing tool. She’s still
Cézanne le sait bien 5
Smiling. Did she find...

Vibre la lumière 5
... The art and science
Chantez les couleurs 5
Of impossibly
Il y met sa vie 5
Complex DNA,
Le bruit de son cœur 5
Repositories
Et comme un bateau 5
That are being forked
Porté par sa voile 5
And modified all 
Doucement le pinceau 5
Around us, living
Glisse sur la toile 5
Things, zeros and ones,
Et voilà l'homme 4
Four chemicals,
Qui croise avec ses yeux 6
All seeing past my skin
Le temps d'un éclair 5
Right into my soul,
Le regard des dieux 5
Making mistakes when
Cézanne peint 3
Copying
Il laisse s'accomplir le prodige de ses mains 12
DNA. Do you call cancer cells science or
Cézanne peint 3
Painting genes?
Et il éclaire le monde pour nos yeux qui n'voient rien 12
The Cézanne of CRISPR, cool gene editing tool,
Si le bonheur existe 6
His flowing beard smiling,
C'est une épreuve d'artiste 6
Painting genes with the brush
Cézanne le sait bien 5
Strokes of da Vinci.
Quand Cézanne peint 4
The canvas’ soul
Cézanne peint... 3
Is Python.

Painting genes…

A medical thriller about CRISPR (soon out)

Catherine Coste

All Thanks To DNA

For Emily Leproust, Twist Bioscience, San Francisco

Emily is... French artist Cabrel singing "Sarbacane" :-)
So i've been trying to write some lyrics (please don't laugh)

Emily's presentation: awesome!! Check it out here
Sarbacane, a song by French artist Cabrel

All Thanks To DNA (lyrics by Catherine Coste)

DNA is the next silicon 
Making from scratch 
DNA! valley of wonderment 
10 thousand genes 
Screen, select for desired function : 
Mammalian cells and algae bio- 
 factories, plants, construction… re- 
-genesis.

Designing DNA  
Mutations. Won’t you try 
Synthetic bio,
A billion dollar market, to change 
The world? Like making more food with less 
Arable land and fertilizers. 
Eliminate oil as a source 
Of our life 

Bacteria in soil feeds natural genes 
As a fertilizer to the plant and 
Gives vitamin A to children, thanks 
To gene clusters making rice with 
Vitamins. Vanilla from yeast, 
No phenol
Oh, no phenol 

With modified yeast you ferment sugar, 
Much healthier than vanilla coming from 
Oil. And use DNA to solve some 
Diseases. In yeast ferment and 
Sugar, make artemisinin 
You beat, oh 
Malaria. 

All thanks to DNA you can 
Modify white blood cells that will kill, 
Locate’n target, all of your 
Cancer cells, 
Oh cancer cells. 

Or making keratin-like proteins
Like the ones in rhino horn. Heroin 
Only is pricier than rhino horn! 
Squalene, a cosmetic coming 
From shark livers, can also be 
Engineered, 
And…
Spider silk 

Drug screening, antibody enginee-  
-ring, discovering new drugs, all thanks to 
DNA, that can help replace coal,  
Fuel, gaz, used to create plastic, 
Fertilizer, energy, not 
Sustainable 

Instead of oil, modify yeast 
And organisms like e-coli 
Create biofactories, use 
CO2, 
sunlight and 
sugar and 
DNA 

Oh, DNA 

-------------------------------------------------------------

Sarbacane
All Thanks To DNA


On croyait savoir tout sur l'amour 9
DNA is the next silicon 9
Depuis toujours, 4
Making from scratch 4
Nos corps par cœur et nos cœurs au chaud 9
DNA! valley of wonderment 9
Dans le velours, 4
10 thousand genes 4
Et puis te voilà  bout de femme, 8
Screen, select for desired function : 8
Comme soufflée d'une sarbacane. 9
Mammalian cells and algae bio- 9
Le ciel a même un autre éclat 8
factories, plants, construction… re- 8
Depuis toi. 3
-genesis. 4

Les hommes poursuivent ce temps 6
Designing DNA 6
Qui court depuis toujours, 6
Mutations. Won’t you try 6
Voilà que t’arrives 5
Synthetic bio,
Et que tout s'éclaire sur mon parcours, 9
A billion dollar market, to change 9
Pendue à mon cou comme une liane, 9
The world? Like making more food with less 9
Comme le roseau de la sarbacane. 9
Arable land and fertilizers. 9
Le ciel s'est ouvert par endroits 8
Eliminate oil as a source 8
Depuis toi. 3
Of our life 3

Pas besoin de phrases ni de longs discours, 10
Bacteria in soil feeds natural genes 10
Ça change tout dedans, ça change tout autour. 10
As a fertilizer to the plant and 10
Finis les matins paupières en panne, 9
Gives vitamin A  to children, thanks 9
Lourdes comme les bouteilles de butane, 8
To gene clusters making rice with 8
J'ai presque plus ma tête à moi, 8
Vitamins. Vanilla from yeast, 8
Depuis toi. 3
3 No phenol
oh, no phenol 4

Pas besoin de faire de trop longs discours, 10
With modified yeast you ferment sugar, 10
Ça change tout dedans, ça change tout autour, 10
Much healthier than vanilla coming from 10
Pourvu que jamais tu ne t'éloignes, 9
Oil. And use DNA to solve some 9
Plus loin qu'un jet de sarbacane, 8
Diseases. In yeast ferment and 8
J'ai presque plus ma tête à  moi, 8
Sugar, make artemisinin 8
Depuis toi. 3
You beat, oh 3
Malaria. 3

Alors te voilà  bout de femme, 8
All thanks to DNA you can 8
Comme soufflée d'une sarbacane. 9
Modify white blood cells that will kill, 9
Le ciel s'est ouvert par endroits, 8
Locate’n target all of your 8
Depuis toi. 3
Cancer cells. 3
Oh depuis toi 4
Oh cancer cells 4

Pas besoin de phrases ni de longs discours, 10
Or making keratin-like proteins10
Ça change tout dedans, ça change tout autour. 10
Like the ones in rhino horn. Heroin 10
Finis les matins paupières en panne, 9
Only is pricier than rhino horn! 9
Lourdes comme les bouteilles de butane, 8
Squalene, a cosmetic coming 8
J'ai presque plus ma tête à  moi, 8
From shark livers, can also be 8
Depuis toi. 3
Engineered, 3
And…
Spider silk 3

Pas besoin de faire de trop longs discours, 10
Drug screening, antibody enginee- 10
Ça change tout dedans, ça change tout autour, 10
-ring, discovering new drugs, all thanks to 10
Pourvu que jamais tu ne t'éloignes, 9
DNA, that can help replace coal, 9
Plus loin qu'un jet de sarbacane, 8
Fuel, gaz, used to create plastic, 8
J'ai presque plus ma tête à  moi, 8
Fertilizer, energy, not 8
Sustainable 4

Alors te voilà  bout de femme, 8
Instead of oil, modify yeast 8
Comme soufflée d'une sarbacane. 9
And organisms like e-coli 9
Le ciel s'est ouvert par endroits, 8
Create biofactories, use 8
CO2 3
sunlight and 3
sugar and 3
DNA 3

Oh, DNA 4

Me, in three numbers and one tweet and a book

Link to my bioethics chronicles on Agoravox:
http://www.agoravox.fr/auteur/catherine-coste 

Fictions:



Link to book (Kindle)