Category Archives: Gene Modification

CRISPR, Evolution, Gene Modification, Genome Sequencing, George Church

Dr. George Church: The Augmented Human Being

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Update: June 27, 2025

I did not realize that Dr. George Church is now 70 years old. He refuses to slow down and has been in the news a lot recently due to his being a co-founder of the company that created woolly mice. The below new 1.5 hour podcast interview with Dr. Church is gold. Thankfully, one viewer comment mentions CRISPR and a hair loss cure, so I have a better excuse for updating this post.

April 6, 2016

On very rare occasions, I write posts covering biological or medical subjects and breakthroughs that are either:

a) Groundbreaking, but entirely unrelated to a hair loss cure. Or:

b) Potentially related to a hair loss cure in the long run.

This post on Harvard geneticist Dr. George Church falls under the second category.

Dr. George Church

I have briefly discussed Dr. George Church a few times on this blog before. In my opinion, there is a good possibility that he will be known as one of the 20 greatest scientists the world has ever witnessed when all is said and done. Interestingly enough, Dr. Church got an F on one of his graduate program college courses at Duke University in 1976, and he has proudly posted that letter of rejection from Duke on his current Harvard University website.

Dr. Church was adopted as a child. In his own words, he has had “early-onset health problems (insurance companies take note): heart attack, carcinoma, narcolepsy, dyslexia, pneumonia, motion sickness.”

Several days ago, a new interview (more like a speech) of Dr. Church was posted on YouTube, and I was very impressed by the range of subjects that Dr. Church covers in this monologue. The title of this video is “The Augmented Human Being.”

Hopefully, this augmentation will imply a full head of hair for all, even though that is probably the last thing that Dr. Church is thinking of when he discusses things such as CRISPR and genetic therapy in the video.

It is quite revealing that the above video only had a little under 500 views when I embedded it in this post, despite being online for two days. In sharp contrast, the one week old gorilla enclosure video now has 13 million views. Dr. George Church could bring back that now dead gorilla back to life, just like he will the extinct woolly mammoth.

Dr. Church is currently 61 years old, but from the looks of it, I doubt that he will retire anytime soon despite his health problems. He is a vegan, dyslexic, narcoleptic workaholic. And towers at a height of 6 feet 5 inches.

During the past few months Dr. Church has been all over the news almost every single day. Some highlights:

Will all of this turn into what Huxley or Orwell predicted?

Gene Modification, Joe Rogan, Woolly Mice

Scientists Successfully Create Genetically Modified Woolly Mice

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Update: April 7, 2025

And now it is Dire Wolves brought back from extinction (sound on). I wonder if anyone would think that these mice and wolves were “cute” if they did not have their stellar fur/hair?

Amid a wave of publicity, Colossal Biosciences CEO Ben Lamm was a guest on Joe Rogan Experience today, explaining his company’s de-extinction projects.

Key quote at 2:15:40:

“People ask us if we could solve hair loss with woolly mammoth (genes).”

At 2:20:45:

He talks about a company spun out of Harvard that makes microneedle patches that can deliver stem cells to your hair and skin to replace melanocytes and other cells. i.e., grey hair reversal and making skin younger. He mentions the biggest hurdle for progress as being slow and stringent FDA regulations.

March 5, 2025

Genetically Modified Woolly Mice
Genetically modified woolly mice created by scientists from Colossal Biosciences..

Scientists Create Genetically Modified Woolly Mice

Scientists at US biotechnology firm Colossal Biosciences have successfully bred genetically modified woolly mice for the first time. This is in preparation to ultimately bring back the woolly mammoth from extinction by the end of 2028. More accurately, they will genetically engineer the Asian elephant (closely related to the woolly mammoth) with qualities to match the woolly mammoth.

The genetically modified woolly mice had various combinations of distinct hair types, including woolly curly coats of lengthy fur with a mammoth-like golden-brown color.

According to a quote from the Guardian:

“The team focused on disrupting nine genes associated with hair color, texture, length or pattern or hair follicles.”

But the CNN article says the following:

“In total, the team made eight edits simultaneously, using three cutting-edge techniques, to seven mice genes.

Most of these genes were selected because they were already known to influence the coats of mice. The induced genetic disruptions were intended to produce physical traits similar to those seen in mammoths, including the striking golden hair.

Fat metabolism related genes were also modified, since the future woolly mammoths will need to survive in cold environments. Woolly mammoths used to roam the frozen tundras of Europe, Asia and North America, before going extinct 4,000 years ago.

Interestingly, one of the genes that was targeted was FGF-5 (fibroblast growth factor 5), the inhibition of which I have covered on this blog before.

Colossal’s chief scientist officer Beth Shapiro was interviewed on NPR yesterday and the official paper was also published yesterday.

Colossal has raised $435 million since it was founded in 2021 by billionaire CEO Ben Lamm and legendary Harvard University geneticist George Church. The latter is a Professor of Genetics at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University.

Woolly Scalp Humans via Gene Therapy

As scientists become increasingly efficient at pinpointing the exact set of genes to target for various conditions, how will governments react? Will they allow people to genetically alter their yet-to-be-born children just for cosmetic purposes such as scalp hair in the future?

More importantly, when will we be able to edit our scalp hair genes as adults (i.e., gene therapy via CRISPR or other such technologies), since we missed out on pre-birth genetic modification?

Also make sure to check out my past posts on key human hair related genes and on genetic engineering to cure hair loss.