The advent of genome editing technology promises to transform human health, livestock and agriculture, and to eradicate pest species. This transformative power demands urgent scrutiny and resolution of the ethical conflicts attached to the creation and release of engineered genomes. Here, I discuss the ethics surrounding the transformative CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing technology in the contexts of human genome editing to eradicate genetic disease and of gene drive technology to eradicate animal vectors of human disease.

Mutations to lamins in skeletal muscle cells have been shown to reduce nuclear stability, increase nuclear envelope rupture, and induce DNA damage and cell death. New research shows that limiting mechanical loads can rescue myofibre function and viability.

The many health benefits of exercise are well-known. Conversely, the pathologies associated with a sedentary lifestyle are also well-documented. However, science and medicine have only recently begun to explain how exercise does what it does. Here, I discuss recent insight into the biochemical mechanisms underlying the benefits of exercise and the pathologies of inactivity.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is associated with a variety of inherited disorders, but most diagnoses have no identifiable genetic etiology. There has been a significant increase in the incidence of ASD diagnoses in the past three decades. The now-discredited vaccine theory of ASD causation has driven concerns over environmental exposures that may or may not lead to ASD. Here, I discuss the evidence for an underlying genetic basis for ASD, the evidence that environmental inputs could play a significant role ASD and potential treatments for associated symptoms.