Genetic Firewalls and Frontiers: Exploring New and Future Developments in Synthetic Biology
Finding Genius Podcast
Richard Jacobs
4.4 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 February 2024
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Is it possible to make any organism fully resistant to viral infections?
According to new research using E. coli from the Harvard Medical School Department of Genetics, the answer seems to be yes…eventually!
Today, we're joined by one of the lead researchers in this study, Akos Nyerges. Among many fascinating developments in the fields of genetic engineering and synthetic biology, he discusses the ability to modify existing organisms to achieve desired changes, the use of new DNA building blocks to create synthetic organisms, the most challenging regions of DNA to engineer, and what to expect in the near future.
Press play to discover:
- How an organism can be genetically engineered to have a genetic 'firewall' from natural viral infections
- The difference between synthetic genomics and genetic engineering
- Applications of CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology
- The use of genetically engineered organisms in novel drug development
Tune in for the full conversation, visit Home | Church Lab (harvard.edu) to learn more about Harvard's Department of Genetics, and feel free to contact Nyerges via email: Akos_Nyerges@hms.harvard.edu.
Take advantage of a 5% discount on Ekster accessories by using the code FINDINGGENIUS. Enhance your style and functionality with premium accessories. Visit bit.ly/3uiVX9R to explore latest collection.
Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/30PvU9C
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Forget frequently asked questions. |
| 0:02.2 | Common sense, common knowledge, or Google. |
| 0:04.8 | How about advice from a real genius? |
| 0:07.0 | 95% of people in any profession are good enough to be qualified and licensed. |
| 0:11.2 | 5% go above and beyond. They become very good at what they do. |
| 0:15.0 | But only 0.1% are real Jesus. |
| 0:18.2 | Richard Jacobs has made it his life's mission to find them for you. |
| 0:22.2 | He hunts down and interviews geniuses in every |
| 0:24.6 | field, sleep science, cancer, stem cells, ketogenic diets and more. Here come the geniuses. |
| 0:30.0 | This is the Finding Genius Podcast. |
| 0:33.0 | That is Richard Jacobs. |
| 0:35.0 | Hello, this is Richard Jacobs with the Finding Genius Podcast, |
| 0:41.0 | now part of the Finding Genius Foundation. |
| 0:43.4 | My guest today is Akosh Niegeh. |
| 0:45.7 | He's from Hungary. |
| 0:46.7 | That's why his name sounds like that. |
| 0:47.7 | I hope I did a good job pronouncing it. |
| 0:49.7 | He's a research fellow in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. |
| 0:53.4 | And the topic we can talk about today is, you know, so I've comes from a news article, |
| 0:57.0 | scientists have engineered super bacteria that appear to be alien to all life on Earth. |
| 1:01.6 | So we're going to get into that. But welcome, Akosh. Thank you for coming. |
| 1:05.0 | Thank you so much Richard for the introduction and also for the invitation and you need a perfect job in pronouncing my name. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Richard Jacobs, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Richard Jacobs and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.