- Harvard’s Stem Cell Institute will begin CRISPR editing of sperm DNA to create IVF babies with a reduced lifetime risk of Alzheimer’s disease, marking the first U.S. effort to pursue germline-like editing since the He Jiankui controversy.  
- A new biorxiv preprint shows that cytidine base editors generate “substantial off-target single-nucleotide variants,” undercutting claims of precision and reinforcing calls for exhaustive pre- and post-edit whole-genome sequencing.  
- Channel participants debated technical strategies for preventing germline transmission of edits, including inducible Cas9 systems, synthetic gene drives that auto-excise inserts in germline niches, and universal embryonic sterility rescueable only by IVF.  
- The diyhpluswiki was updated with curated lists of protective “space genes” (e.g., PCSK9, SCN9A, CCR5-Δ32) and rare alleles that lower risk of myocardial infarction, pain perception, and viral infection, intended as a reference for future editing targets.  
- A Nature Medicine paper reports that p53 activation triggered by CRISPR-Cas9 double-strand breaks acts as a barrier to efficient editing in human pluripotent stem cells, suggesting that p53-proficient lines may need transient suppression or alternative nucleases.  
- Discussion linked to neuromorphic spin-torque nano-oscillator neural nets as an energy-efficient substrate for AI, with a new Brain-Inspired podcast episode interviewing Julie Grollier on hardware approaches to low-power neural computation.  
- Participants criticized mainstream bioethics as a “culture of imagined additional steps” that blocks experimentation; proposed reframing ethics around post-hoc support and harm mitigation rather than pre-emptive prohibition.  
- Media coverage revealed that couples in He Jiankui’s trial were paid ~US$40,000 and promised “healthier and smarter babies,” while drop-outs alleged they were told the team could “get rid of” any child found to be unhealthy.  
- Links circulated to state-by-state U.S. restrictions on fetal-tissue research, a 2002 WSJ exposé on the Raelian cloning hoax, and an AP behind-the-scenes story on how reporters uncovered the CRISPR-baby scandal.