CRISPR Co-Inventor Reveals: Gene Editing Breakthrough | Stanford Professor Le Cong (Part 1)

Описание: Le Cong, an Assistant Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he's pioneering the fusion of AI and gene editing to treat cancer and immune diseases. He's one of the co-inventors who proved CRISPR gene-editing technology could work in humans—turning a $10,000 lab process into a $100 scalable technology. Professor Cong is a recipient of the NHGRI Genomic Innovator Award, Baxter Foundation Faculty Scholar, and named to GEN's Top 10 Under 40. He previously served as a VP at Moderna leading their gene-editing innovation team, and has built a 20,000+ member global community advancing AI for science.

Professor Cong reveals the untold story behind CRISPR's breakthrough - from two years of failed experiments to the intense global race for discovery. He shares his counterintuitive philosophy of optimizing for curiosity over predictable outcomes, which led him from McKinsey to scientific discovery. We explore why he believes current medical progress is too slow despite successes like Ozempic, his vision for using AI to tackle diseases like Alzheimer's and diabetes, and CRISPR's three game-changing applications: curing inherited diseases, engineering better crops, and potentially extending human healthspan. Plus, why he thinks we're entering a new era where AI will accelerate scientific discovery at unprecedented scale.

References
Le Cong –   / lecong   | https://profiles.stanford.edu/186687
Jing Conan Wang (Host) –   / jingconan  
FounderCoHo –   / foundercoho  

Timestamps

00:00 Highlights
01:45 Introduction and Interview Focus
03:03 Growing Up in China's Silicon Valley
04:20 Early Gaming and Computer Experiences
07:10 Switching from Engineering to Biology
08:21 Family Tragedy and Career Transformation
11:08 Current Medical Progress and Remaining Gaps
14:56 Choosing Research Over McKinsey Consulting
17:08 What is CRISPR? The Genetic Scissors Explained
19:40 Proving CRISPR Works in Human Cells
20:26 Three Game-Changing Applications of CRISPR
24:45 The Cost Revolution: From $10,000 to $100
27:19 Joining Feng Zhang's Lab at MIT
29:30 The Global Race for CRISPR Discovery
31:50 Working Under Pressure and Competition
37:24 Two Years of Failed Experiments
38:56 The Philosophy of Scientific Breakthrough
39:39 Believing vs Being the Smartest Person
42:07 Wrap-up and Preview of Part 2