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Munk Debate on Gene Editing

On April 21, the Munk Debates convened a special debate about gene editing in Deerfield, Massachusetts for 650 students at Deerfield Academy.

Motion: Be it Resolved, let’s engineer better human beings.

About the Debate:
New powerful engineering technology is already being used to edit human embryos, curing diseases and repairing defective genes before a child is even born. Some welcome this new science as a powerful tool to enhance human intelligence, memory, appearance and physical health. Why wouldn’t we embrace a science that allows people to live longer, healthier, and happier lives? Others warn that this new technology will be used to create designer babies and a new class of genetically “enhanced” elites. It will undermine human dignity and autonomy, and risk unleashing new diseases into the human gene pool. Playing G-d with human nature, critics argue, will result in a dystopian nightmare of our own making.

About the Debaters:
Arguing in favour of the motion was the biophysicist, best-selling author, biotechnology entrepreneur, and the former director of the Program on Medicine, Technology and Society at UCLA School of Medicine, Gregory Stock. His debate partner was the internationally acclaimed strategic philosopher and pioneering transhumanist Max More. Arguing against the motion was the prominent American bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel, Special Advisor to the Director General of the WHO and a former founding chair of the Department of Bioethics at the NIH. His debate partner was the award-winning educator, author, and Professor of Reproductive Science at University College London, Joyce Harper.

Brain circuit links memory to hearing, revealing how learned sounds guide behavior

Short-term memories are thought to be formed deep within the brain in structures such as the hippocampus, but little is known about how and where memory-related information is kept in the brain or the process of drawing on this information. A good example is the sound of a car horn—most of us recognize it as a warning and know how to respond, even though not all horns sound the same and the circumstances in which we might hear a horn are different each time.

New research led by Professor Lucy Palmer from The Florey’s Neural Network Group has uncovered new insights into how and where memory-related information is stored and how these memory banks are used. These findings improve our fundamental understanding of how the brain works, providing a springboard for other scientists to make further, disease-specific discoveries. The paper is published in the journal Science Advances.

“Using mice that we trained to respond to similar, but slightly altered sounds, we identified a long-range cortical circuit that links memory and sensory systems,” Professor Palmer said. “Our findings provide valuable insights into the cellular and network mechanisms that support learning and memory-guided sensory behavior.

The New Gold Standard: When AI Tokens Become the Currency of the Future

I’ve spent years watching finance and technology slowly adapt to one another, but the shift we’re looking at right now is going to change the entire landscape overnight. We need to stop thinking of AI as just a software tool or a cool shortcut for writing emails. We are officially entering an era where computational power is a foundational global commodity—and the standard unit of that commodity is the AI token.

Think of it like digital energy. Just as factories consume kilowatt-hours of electricity, modern enterprises now have to “burn” tokens to power their workflows. In my latest piece, I break down the massive hidden risk of letting a few Big Tech hyperscalers control both the production of this raw material and the infrastructure of exchange. This is where the banking sector has to step in, not just to cut their own costs, but to act as the ultimate market makers for artificial thought.

I dive deep into how banks will soon offer token futures markets—allowing companies to hedge their computing costs the exact same way airlines hedge aviation fuel—and how autonomous AI agents will soon be transacting with each other using tokenized value. The institutions that build these financial rails now will own the next century of commerce, while the rest risk being left behind in an aging system.

Click through to read the full breakdown on how the machine-to-machine economy is actually going to work!

(https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-gold-standard-when-ai-tok…Resilience over Political Influence: History shows that attempting to lobby a system to be “less exploitative” rarely works because the system is designed for extraction. True survival in this model might mean finding “off-grid” pockets where the resource demand is low enough to fly under the AI’s radar, or where the land is unsuitable for massive data centers.


I have spent a significant portion of my career watching the tectonic plates of finance and technology grind against each other. Usually, it is a slow, methodical process—a gradual shifting of legacy systems adapting to new digital realities. But every so often, a shift occurs that is so profound, it completely redefines the landscape overnight. We are standing on the precipice of one of those shifts right now.

Ex-Google CEO: What Artificial Superintelligence Will Actually Look Like w/ Eric Schmidt & Dave B

Get access to metatrends 10+ years before anyone else — https://qr.diamandis.com/metatrends.

Eric Schmidt is the former CEO of Google.

Dave Blundin is the founder of Link Ventures.

Chapters.

00:00 — The Rise of Digital Superintelligence.
09:26 — AI and Energy: The Power Behind Progress.
18:34 — The Future of Work: AI’s Impact on Jobs.
28:02 — Navigating the AI Landscape: Opportunities and Risks.
37:13 — The Role of Education in an AI-Driven World.
46:41 — The Ethics of AI: Balancing Innovation and Responsibility.
56:12 — The Future of Creativity: AI in Arts and Media.

Dr David Sinclair: What if Aging Isn’t Inevitable, But We Can Actually Slow It Down or Reverse It?

In this groundbreaking conversation, Professor of Genetics and longevity scientist, Dr. David Sinclair, A.O., Ph.D., joins Sarah Grynberg to unpack the future of human aging, the science of longevity, and how we live today impacts how we age tomorrow.

From reversing blindness in mice to exploring treatments that could one day delay menopause and extend healthy human life, this episode will completely change the way you think about your body, your health, and your future.

But beyond the science, this is also a deeply human conversation about purpose, suffering, love, family, and what it truly means to live a great life.

In this episode, you will learn:
Why aging may actually be reversible.
The daily habits accelerating aging in your body right now.
How stress, loneliness, and cortisol could impact longevity.
The real science behind supplements like NMN, resveratrol, and NAD boosters.
Why exercise, sleep, and relationships matter more than you think.
What Dr. Sinclair believes is coming in the next 10 years of medicine.
How scientists are working to reverse female infertility and delay menopause.
The surprising reason your “biological age” may be younger or older than your real age.
Why suffering through disease and decline should not be considered “normal aging”
The philosophy and mindset Dr. Sinclair lives by every day.

00:00 — Introduction.
01:18 — Why David Sinclair Became Obsessed With Aging.
06:20 — The Childhood Conversation That Changed His Life.
10:18 — The Groundbreaking Discovery That Could Reverse Aging.
12:47 — Reversing Blindness In Mice.
13:33 — Human Trials Are About To Begin.
16:11 — What Accelerates Aging Faster Than Anything Else.
20:08 — Why Relationships & Loneliness Impact Longevity.
24:14 — The Truth About Sun Exposure & Aging.
28:59 — Alzheimer’s, Cancer & Diseases Of Aging.
35:28 — Will Humans Live Longer In The Next Decade?
38:34 — The Supplements David Sinclair Personally Takes.
46:50 — Menopause, Fertility & Reversing Ovarian Aging.
50:20 — What Humans Will Eventually Die From.
51:18 — The Difference Between His Mother & Father’s Aging.
55:37 — Skin Rejuvenation, Hair Growth & Looking Younger.
58:16 — Why He Became A “Struggling Vegan”
01:00:08 — David Sinclair’s Workout & Exercise Routine.
01:03:28 — The Lifespan Community & Podcast.
01:06:02 — The Best Advice He’s Ever Received.
01:08:09 — What A Life Of Greatness Means To David Sinclair.

This episode is a powerful reminder that longevity is not just about living longer… it’s about living better.

Breakthrough drug reverses aging in skin and dramatically speeds healing

Scientists have discovered that a topical anti-aging drug called ABT-263 can dramatically improve wound healing in older skin. The treatment works by removing damaged “senescent” cells that accumulate with age and slow the body’s repair process. In aged mice, wounds healed much faster after treatment, while the drug also activated genes tied to collagen production and tissue regeneration.

Hormone therapy use for menopause declines despite proven benefits, study finds

Hormone therapy use among women in the U.S. remains low, even though it’s an effective treatment for many menopause symptoms, according to a new Mayo Clinic study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Menopause affects more than one million women each year in the U.S., and up to 75% experience symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats that can last for years. Yet researchers have found that use of menopausal hormone therapy has steadily declined over time.

The new study found that hormone therapy use dropped from 4.4% in 2007 to 1.7% in 2023. Even among women most likely to benefit—those ages 50 to 59—only about 3.5% were using hormone therapy in 2023.

A Stanford Physicist Found the Actual Reason We Age. And He Says It Can Be Fixed | Tom Benson Ep 234

I had Tom Benson, CEO of Mitrix on to discuss mitochondrial transplantation. We covered what mitochondria are, the discovery that your body is constantly delivering fresh mitochondria through your bloodstream (people didn’t know that mitochondria were transferred outside the cell until recently!), why we age, what kills mitochondria (stress, smoking, radiation, chemotherapy and certain antibiotics like fluoroquinolones, psych meds), why COVID destroys mitochondria and what that means for long COVID, the Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s brain tissue regeneration research their company has already done in mice, what mitochondrial transplantation actually is and how it has already been used in pediatric heart surgery, what a bioreactor growing mitochondria for personal use might look like, and more.

Find Tom at mitrix.bio (http://mitrix.bio/).

Mitochondrial Transplantation Conference: • 2025 Mitochondrial Transplantation Conference.

For a high quality education and community consider enrolling in Peterson Academy: https://petersonacademy.com/

—Research Sites—
Newsletter/website: https://mikhailapeterson.com.
Fuller Research Foundation: https://fullerresearch.org.
Lion Diet: https://liondiet.com.
Biotoxin: https://biotoxin.com.
Prescribed-Harm: https://prescribed-harm.com.

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