- ForeverLabs now offers consumer autologous stem-cell banking for $7 k lifetime or $2.5 k extraction plus $250 / yr, but participants warn that rapid progress in iPSC reprogramming and therapeutic cloning may soon make banked marrow-derived cells obsolete.  
- Oxford Nanopore’s $1 k MinION starter kit brings portable sequencing to individuals, yet its protein-pore flow cells degrade quickly and require lab infrastructure, yielding lower accuracy than the $1 k 30× whole-genome service from Veritas Genetics.  
- A Nature “ribocomputing” paper demonstrated RNA-only programmable logic gates that perform complex cellular computation without DNA circuits, opening new avenues for transient, reversible bio-computation.  
- MRI studies of astronauts reveal significant microgravity-induced neuroplasticity and cortical remodeling, providing the first direct evidence that human brain structure is highly sensitive to gravitational context.  
- Reeler-mutant mouse data show that loss of cortical layering does not abolish sensory perception or barrel-column organization, challenging the assumption that layered neocortex is strictly required for basic cognition.  
- Human-embryo cloning achieved a milestone in 2013 with the first U.S. embryonic stem cells derived via somatic-cell nuclear transfer, delayed six years mainly by regulatory hurdles rather than technical barriers.  
- Nick Bostrom’s 2008 iterated-embryo-selection (IES) concept—cycling embryos → stem cells → gametes → embryos—was re-evaluated; participants now argue that large-scale DNA synthesis is more efficient than repeated IES loops.  
- HGP-Write received a $3.5 M planning grant but remains organizationally fragile, still relying on ad-hoc email chains; organizers debate whether to coordinate ~100 labs for chromosome-scale builds or pivot to whole-genome synthesis roadmaps, while IP is handled by an MPEG-LA CRISPR patent pool, raising transparency concerns.  
- A proposed “in-vitro seminiferous-tubule” bioreactor could continuously generate genetically modified sperm in culture, potentially bypassing egg-donation bottlenecks and lowering IVF costs for large-scale genetic engineering.  
- Intel’s chief medical officer presented at DEF CON 2017 on emerging gene-therapy attack surfaces, indicating that major corporations are now formally modeling DIY-bio and biosecurity threats.