REPLAY: Ashwin Seetharaman – Genetic Engineering Will Cure Disease, End Aging and Evolve All of Us

Ashwin Seetharaman is molecular genetics and cell/developmental researcher at the University of Toronto focused on understanding life at its most fundamental level. He is currently focused on unraveling genetic interaction networks underlying human disease using the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology, ie examining and fighting rare diseases using gene editing. With over a decade of experience in leading scientific research, publishing research articles and presenting scientific findings at conferences, he has a talent for simplifying and communicating complex scientific data in a way that both experts in the field and a non-scientific audience can appreciate them. Ashwin spends much of his time thinking about the dynamics of the future and how this research will impact humanity, especially those unfamiliar with its profound effects. In addition to his research, Ashwin is also passionate about training people to communicate more powerfully and offers powerful tools and training at the highest quality to empower people to articulate their ideas and vision in a powerful and persuasive manner.

In our wide-ranging conversation, we cover many things, including:
- The future of CRISPR and genetic engineering
- Why personalized medicine is closer than you would think
- How CRISPR and gene drive technology can have a butterfly effect like unintended consequences
- The problem and solution with causing and treating cancer
- Why we need to discuss the ethical implications of genetic editing
- The importance of DNA based edits and therapies to advance humanity
- How to shift the public perception on future technologies
- The reason humanity may evolve into multiple species
- Ashwin’s thoughts on the ethics of great power
- The reason Ashwin is cautious with CRISPR technology
- How researchers are fighting and will likely eradicate malaria-carrying mosquitoes
- Why research is now focused on systems vs individual genes
- The importance of epigenetics in understanding biological processes
Why we may have a “cure” to aging on the horizon