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).


Affichage des articles dont le libellé est bioethics. Afficher tous les articles
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est bioethics. Afficher tous les articles

Mon projet de chroniques bioéthiques bilingues

Ce que je pourrais faire en complément des tweets coups de poing et du polar "Airpocalypse", fini à présent (on en est à des trucs de relecture et de mise en page) : ce serait d'occuper le terrain des chroniques bioéthiques, comme j'ai fait sur Agoravox (81 articles publiés en français par le passé) ; cette fois-ci plutôt sur Medium, et en deux langues (français et anglais). Je n'ai pas commencé du tout. Mais un article par semaine, ce serait bien.
Sur Medium, entre autres, parler de l'hyper-compétitivité qui est la tare héréditaire du milieu scientifique (microbiologistes et chirurgiens et autres chercheurs) et qui bloque encore et toujours l'initiative visant à amener le patient en charge de ses données (le biz plan "Portable Genomics") comme acteur au centre du parcours de santé. Et analyser les autre blocages. Bref, être plus dans le fond documenté, et les amorces de solution : participer à la création de solutions nouvelles, pas qu'à la destruction des anciennes.
Donc, s'organiser pour faire un article par semaine. Ce sera moins concentré et documenté que les chroniques e-santé de Jean-Michel Billaut, ne rêvez pas ;-) ;-)
Aussi, écrire une comédie "French Tech", mettant en scène un startupeur biologiste français dont le biz plan est de rester en Californie, et une étudiante de MOOCs en biologie, qui veut écrire de la science-fiction et est passionnée d'Asie. Tandem improbable que ces deux-là ; mais une passion commune : l'avenir de la médecine.
Voilà ce que je voudrais faire à l'avenir, et continuer à apprendre le Chinois, car ai l'intuition que la "genomic precision medicine" va aussi s'écrire en chinois et que ce sera passionnant ...
DNA cowgirl

When DNA Means "Do Not Ask"

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-rare-disorder-is-hiding-in-your-dna
In France, citizens do not have the right to request their own genome sequencing (bioethics laws). Failing to abide by the law means that you can be fined & jailed...

French citizens cannot get their own genome sequenced: it is forbidden by law




Using MinION sequencing machine, sitting at my kitchen table...

... like so:
"One scientist this month tweeted a picture of the sequencer on his dining room table, decoding DNA."



Having your genome sequenced at your own request or initiative is forbidden by law in France. L.O.L.

"David Deamer made this sketch in 1989 when the idea for nanopore sequencing came to him. One day in 1989, biophysicist David Deamer pulled his car off California’s Interstate 5 to hurriedly scribble down an idea. In a mental flash, he had pictured a strand of DNA threading its way through a microscopic pore. Grabbing a pen and a yellow pad, he sketched out a radical new way to study the molecule of life. Twenty-five years later, the idea is now being commercialized as a gene sequencing machine that’s no larger than a smartphone, and whose effects might eventually be similarly transformative." Source.



Should robot cars be programmed to kill you if it will save more lives? Transplant surgeons say yes.

 

Should Robot Cars Be Programmed To Kill You If It Will Save More Lives?

"Say a robotic car -- which exist, by the way - is driving you happily along a mountain road, and then a tire blows sending you into oncoming traffic. If the car still has a modicum of control, it may have a simple choice to make. On one hand it could continue in its current path and slam into, say, a robotic SUV carrying parents and four happy kids. Or it could choose to send you over a cliff, killing you but saving the family car.
So what should it do?
The point being, if a robotic car can either choose to kill four people or one, should it be programmed to choose to betray its master? (Source).

Assessing the risks of Synthetic Biology in Europe






A variation around Craig Venter's "My greatest fear is us not using the technology" in his book "Life At The Speed Of Light".

Catherine Coste, Blog: "Ethics, Health and Death 2.0", certificate in genomics (MIT). I'm a genomic geek with strong social media skills.

When some French modern renaissance woman with medium sized intelligence is trying to come to terms with traditional medicine and some "organ-specialist" surgeons in the era of digital biology and precision "genomic" medicine... Wanting to talk about the Hippocratic Oath, she is raving about some hypocritical oak instead... She also talks about "twinkering" with her own genome -- "everybody stands back, I'm doing sciences!"

Also, she speaks about some "23 or me" company. Did you know that in France, it is forbidden by law that any French citizen asks -- on his or her own initiative -- for his or her own genome to be sequenced? It is punished by prison and a fine (cf. recent French bioethics laws)... French citizens are cut from their own genome. Hence, California-based 23andMe company becomes "23orMe". Exception culturelle française.

The EU scientific committee is currently assessing the risks of Synthetic Biology. Interesting experience for both technical and non-technical reasons. People might have developed some perspective on the subject and public perceptions via their own experience. Have such questions ever gotten into that in any kind of depth? Particularly the public sentiments? This is the kind of stuff this talk show is dealing with...


"Assessing the risks of Synthetic Biology in Europe from Cath Coste on Vimeo.

Presence of the Illumina "super-duper sequencing machines" worldwide: