From French lit to biotech regulation…
Inevitably when people find out I started a PhD in French literature before switching to political science, I hear: “You were a lit major? How’d you end up here?” In my mind, the route from French to political science is actually very clear! But sometimes I come across an article that helps me explain it better. Carl Zimmer reported in The New York Times last week on how the “Editing of Pig DNA May Lead to More Organs for People.” Zimmer writes about a new method for editing genes, called Crispr, that presents the possibility of altering pig DNA in a way that would allow doctors to successfully transplant pig organs into humans. Andrew Pollack has discussed Crispr and its…