When we think about revolutions, we think of systemic changes in politics, economics, and lifestyles. Revolutions transform how we live, work, interact, and communicate. In the past, political uprisings and new technologies, from the steam engine to the smartphone, have led to such transformative changes.

Now, a revolution driven by novel biotechnologies (gene editing, neuroprosthetics, synthetic biology, and artificial intelligence in biotech) has the potential to not only change the way we live but the very foundations of our lives – our biology.

But is the so-called biorevolution a real "scientific revolution"?

In the new episode of "We're Doomed, We're Saved," Andreas Horchler and Louise von Stechow look at the biorevolution from different angles, examining its transformative potential and comparing it to revolutions that came before.

Content and Editing:
Louise von Stechow and Andreas Horchler

Disclaimer:
Louise von Stechow & Andreas Horchler and their guests express their personal opinions, which are founded on research on the respective topics, but do not claim to give medical, investment or even life advice in the podcast.

Learn more about the future of biotech in our podcasts and keynotes. Contact us here:
scientific communication: https://science-tales.com/
Podcasts: https://www.podcon.de/
Keynotes: https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/louise-von-stechow

Image:
Acton Crawford via Unsplash

Polygenic risk scores (PRS), put simply, look at gene variants across the human genome in order to determine an individual's risk of getting a disease, from different types of cancer to type II diabetes. PRS could complement current risk prediction models and lead to a more accurate risk prediction. However, for PRS to become a useful clinical instrument, transparent ways to assess their performance and careful communication of disease risks to individuals are key.
In episode 22 of We’re doomed we’re saved, Andreas Horchler and Louise von Stechow speak to two PRS researchers, who contributed to the international and interdisciplinary, EU-funded INTERVENE project.
Brooke Wolford, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Kristi Läll, a researcher in statistical genetics at Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, share their expertise on PRSs and discuss the potential of PRSs in the clinic and pinpoint strategies for addressing biases in PRS.
Learn more about IINTERVENE here:
INTERVENE is coordinated by the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland at the University of Helsinki. The project includes 17 research and other organizations from 10 countries. Learn more about INTERVENE here:
https://www.interveneproject.eu/

You can read more about Brooke at

https://bnwolford.github.io/

Also check out recent publications here:

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.11.20.23298215v1
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.12.23291186v1

Content and Editing:
Louise von Stechow and Andreas Horchler

Disclaimer:
Louise von Stechow & Andreas Horchler and their guests express their personal opinions, which are founded on research on the respective topics, but do not claim to give medical, investment or even life advice in the podcast.

Learn more about the future of biotech in our podcasts and keynotes. Contact us here:
scientific communication: https://science-tales.com/
Podcasts: https://www.podcon.de/
Keynotes: https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/louise-von-stechow

Image:
Acton Crawford via Unsplash

Aging is a dynamic process characterized by the accumulation of cell damage, tissue, and organ degeneration, and diminished function. This process of decline appears to be an inevitable aspect of human existence. In recent years, however, advancements in scientific understanding of aging bring us closer to extending the human lifespan.
With their guests, Dr. Jürgen Reess and Prof. Hartmut Geiger, founders of Moglingbio, Louise von Stechow and Andreas Horchler explore the complex science underlying the process of aging and the challenges faced by the budding longevity industry. They talk about the potential for rejuvenating aged cells in human tissues and the ethical considerations of extending the human lifespan.

Content and Editing:
Louise von Stechow and Andreas Horchler

Disclaimer:
Louise von Stechow & Andreas Horchler and their guests express their personal opinions, which are founded on research on the respective topics, but do not claim to give medical, investment or even life advice in the podcast.

Image:
Marcelo Leal via Unsplash

References:
Theories and Hallmarks of Aging
1. https://www.afar.org/imported/AFAR_INFOAGING_GUIDE_THEORIES_OF_AGING_2016.pdf
2. https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/the-evolution-of-aging-23651151/
3. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41576-022-00513-5
4. https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S0092-8674(13)00645-4
5. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-022-00335-4
6. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/27/magazine/global-life-span.html

Life-prolonging treatments and Cell Rejuvenation
1. https://www.science.org/content/article/feature-man-who-wants-beat-back-aging
2. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-023-00416-y
3. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04282-9
4. https://dogagingproject.org/triad
5. https://www.dvcstem.com/post/anti-aging-stem-cells
6. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/bone-marrow-transplant/in-depth/stem-cells/art-20048117
7. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/fda-warns-about-stem-cell-therapies
8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27286740/
9. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-023-01343-5
10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9023768/
11. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35859206/
12. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41536-022-00275-y
13. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-023-00528-5
14. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01923-y
15. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-023-00373-6

The longevity industry
1. https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/life-sciences-and-health-care/articles/longevity-science.html
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/05/03/will-you-live-to-200-five-levels-of-breakthroughs-in-longevity-research-you-must-know-about/
3. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/may/02/could-we-make-aging-a-thing-of-the-past
4. https://longevity.technology/news/unity-cuts-lead-program-after-clinical-trial-fail/
5. https://longevity.technology/news/global-longevity-investment-hit-5-2-billion-in-2022/
6. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41587-022-00002-4
7. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexzhavoronkov/2023/09/16/what-is-a-longevity-biotechnology-company/?sh=4d4ac9a7702a
8. https://venturebeat.com/business/the-brains-behind-calico-bill-maris-of-google-ventures/
9. https://spannr.com/articles/longevity-industry-introduction#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20longevity%20industry%3F%20The%20longevity%20industry,promote%20healthy%20aging%20and%20improve%20quality%20of%20life.
10. https://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/03/tech/innovation/google-calico-aging-death/index.html

Women make up about half of humanity. Yet, the medical community and the pharmaceutical and biotech industries have long adopted an androcentric view of disease biology and healthcare needs, perceiving women as a specialized or atypical demographic—outliers.
In episode 20 of "We're Doomed, We're Saved," we talk to two biotech experts, Catenion's Dr. Ana Rita Da Costa and Dr. Pascal Joly, to discuss how the biotech industry and healthcare community slowly, but steadily, change and adapt to the needs of half of their customers: women.

RNA, one of the oldest and most versatile biomolecules, has recently entered the therapeutic arena. While for many observers the success of mRNA vaccines seemed to come out of the blue, its build on the fundament of research that has large gone ignored.
Now mRNA therapeutics are enjoying the limelight of great economic success for companies like BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna, and the awarding of the 2023 Nobel Prize to two mRNA researchers. But with the fame also comes a huge public backlash of anti-vaxxers who fear the perceived novelty of mRNAs.
In the 19th episode of We're doomed, we're saved Louise von Stechow and Andreas Horchler talk with their guest, mRNA researcher Lucia Lapazio who has known the field before and after the hype.

In principle the solution to the problem of overweight should be very easy:eat less and exercise more.But anyone who’s ever tried to lose weight – so probably almost anyone – will be able to testify that things are not as simple. So now Ozempic enters the scene, a diabetes drug that looks like a gamechanger in the big business of weight loss.
In episode 18 of We're doomed we're saved, Andreas Horchler and Louise von Stechow discuss the history of weight loss pills and the medical and cultural reasons why we (think we) need to be thin.

Gene editing technology allows humans, for the first time, to change the code of life with a precise editing system offering the potential for curing genetic diseases. The gene editing field is moving with impressive speed: after the seminal paper on the technology was published in 2012, the Nobel Prize awarded for the technology in 2020, and the first therapy approved for treatment of blood diseases in 2023.
In this episode of We’re doomed, we’re saved Andreas Horchler and Louise von Stechow, discuss the tremendous potential of the technology, but also its darker side – the high cost of the therapeutic applications and the potential for augmenting, altering, and redesigning human genomes.

Synthetic biology - the artificial creation of biological molecules, cells, and even organisms - has the potential to revolutionize biotechnology and agriculture, allowing for the creation of novel biomaterials and fuels, opening new opportunities for DNA-based information storage and computation, and even aiding in the exploration and colonization of space. The first synthetic bacterium was created about ten years ago, and since then, the technologies supporting synthetic biology have become faster, cheaper, and more innovative. With the assistance of artificial intelligence, synthetic biology could unlock vast potential, recognized by various industries. Synthetic biology could also enable bad actors to create harmful microbes.

In our data-heavy age, data becomes a treasure, a currency, a valuable good. This is true especially for the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, where data can inform the development of novel drugs. But should own biomedical data – and where should the lines between privacy and patient benefit be drawn?
In the new episode of We’re doomed, we’re saved, Andreas Horchler and Louise von Stechow discuss new strategies of data sharing and ownership in biomedicine and pharma.

The rapid spread of humans is causing many species to disappear off the face of the earth – in a so-called mass extinction. Some scientists are trying to reverse this process, by bringing back extinct species, such as the Dodo, the Passenger Pigeon, or the Wolly Mammoth.
In the 14th episode of We’re doomed, we’re saved Andreas Horchler and Louise von Stechow discuss the breeding procedures and genetic engineering techniques that might be used for brining back extinct animals. We also discuss the ethical implications from resource waste to animal welfare – and what it might mean to be the first and the last member of a (de)extinct species.