In a wide-ranging conversation, Leo Laporte talks with Dr. George Church about the history and future of genome sequencing. Dr. Church explains why he is very excited about how they made an organism resistant to all viruses- both known and unknown.  

They also talk about: 
• How Dr. Church made sequencing affordable (from $3BN to $600)
• Where are we on sequencing the entire human genome, and why would we even want to?
• How close are we to reversing aging? 
• Should we use gene therapy to double the human lifespan?
• Why genetically engineering cold-resistant elephants could be important for climate change, and what about ultimately bringing back the Mammoth?
• He explains the difference between the hype and reality of CRISPR
• sequencing, synthesis, and delivery
• What are the privacy concerns about companies sharing your genome?
• They discuss the controversy and benefit of reconstructing old viruses like the 1918 flu and even inventing new viruses.

Dr. Church is a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and a pioneer in personal genetics. He is credited with developing the first methods for sequencing the first genome and also the CRISPR technology. He created several companies, including Nebula Genomics and Veritas Genetics.

Host: Leo Laporte
Guest: George Church, Ph.D.
Triangulation episode 433
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TWiT.tv is a technology podcasting network located in the San Francisco Bay Area with the #1 ranked technology podcast This Week in Tech hosted by Leo Laporte. Every week we produce over 30 hours of content on a variety of programs including Tech News Weekly, MacBreak Weekly, This Week in Google, Windows Weekly, Security Now, All About Android, and more.