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Exclusive: A record-breaking baby has been born from an embryo that’s over 30 years old

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Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · Jul 29

The world's "oldest baby" has just been born: a big welcome to the world to baby Thaddeus, who developed from an embryo that was in storage for 30 and a half years www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/29/1...

The embryos were created in 1994, while the expectant father was still a toddler, and donated via a Christian “embryo adoption” agency.

Trade Journalism Award Finalists

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Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · May 14

I'm thrilled to be a finalist for the NIHCM trade journalism award alongside so many amazing reporters whose work I really admire (hi @kakape.bsky.social and @jaredwhitlock.bsky.social !)

Thank you NIHCM!
nihcm.org/awards/trade...

Recognizing excellence in writing for a specialized audience

nihcm.org

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Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · May 14

Under the new bill, treatments will only need to have passed preliminary phase I trials (which tend to involve 20-100 people) before they can be made accessible.

Biothicists and legal scholars are concerned about the ethics of selling unproven drugs - and worry that people could get hurt.

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Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · May 14

The bill essentially expands Right to Try, a law designed for terminally ill people. But was developed and lobbied for by people interested in longevity.

The idea is to let people experiment with potentially lifespan-extending drugs.

The first US hub for experimental medical treatments is coming

Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · May 14

Montana just passed a bill that will allow clinics to sell experimental medical treatments

www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/14/1...

Montana just passed a new bill backed by longevity enthusiasts that will enable access to drugs and therapies that are not approved by the FDA.

Bryan Johnson wants to start a new religion in which “the body is God”

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Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · May 6

I met with Bryan Johnson recently. He told me about his plans to start a new religion where "the body is God" (and how it stems from his fears of an AI "event horizon") www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/05/1...

The multimillionaire longevity influencer thinks his new faith could save humanity from superintelligent AI.

A woman made her AI voice clone say “arse.” Then she got banned.

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Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · Feb 14

When Joyce Esser, who has motor neuron disease, used her AI voice clone to tell her husband to "get his arse in gear," she was temporarily banned from using it.

Should tech companies be screening or limiting what people like Joyce can say? www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/14/1...

People with motor neuron disease should be allowed to say whatever they want, including “arse” and “knickers.”

Motor neuron diseases took their voices. AI is bringing them back.

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Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · Feb 13

Thank you so much to Jules and Joyce, and to their partners Maria and Paul, for taking the time (and effort) to share their incredible stories.

Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · Feb 13

Motor neuron diseases can rob people of their voices. But AI is bringing them back. AI voice clones are helping people with MND communicate, and hear their old voices again.

www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/13/1...

AI-generated voice clones are bringing back the voices of people with MND, allowing some to communicate, connect, and even perform comedy routines.

Humanlike “teeth” have been grown in mini pigs

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Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · Feb 6

Humanlike "teeth" have been grown in mini pigs

Researchers mixed human and pig tooth cells and grew them in the lab, then implanted them into the jaws of living mini pigs. They formed little bioengineered teeth!

Goal is to make replacement teeth for ppl

www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/06/1...

The toothlike structures represent a step toward bioengineered replacements for dental implants, say researchers behind the work.

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Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · Feb 4

Scientists! Health professionals! If you and/or important research/programs are being affected by executive orders, memos and directives being issued under the new administration, please get in touch.

You can reach me securely via Signal at jess_hamzelou.01

Inside the strange limbo facing millions of IVF embryos

Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · Jan 13

In Italy, people are not allowed to destroy or donate their embryos. Any "leftover" frozen embryos are stuck in storage, ostensibly forever.

I learned so much about the fascinating and murky status of embryos for this piece. Thank you to all sources. www.technologyreview.com/2025/01/13/1...

Frozen embryos are filling storage banks around the world. It's a struggle to know what to do with them.

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Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · Jan 13

And it varies by country. In the UK, embryos can be stored for 55 years, as long as ppl renew their consent every 10 years. In the US, many clinics don't like to destroy embryos - they worry about bad press or legal action if the intended parents change their minds about using those embryos.

Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · Jan 13

Scientific advances have helped us improve how we freeze and thaw embryos, and IVF success rates. But sticky social, religious, and legal factors mean we often don't know what to do with "leftover" embryos.

Some see them as people. Some see them as property. Many think they're somewhere in between

Inside the strange limbo facing millions of IVF embryos

Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · Jan 13

We're creating more IVF embryos than ever, and millions of them are ending up frozen in suspended animation for years or decades.

Some will be used to start pregnancies, or donated for research. But many of them will be stuck in limbo. Indefinitely.
www.technologyreview.com/2025/01/13/1...

Frozen embryos are filling storage banks around the world. It's a struggle to know what to do with them.

How the US is preparing for a potential bird flu pandemic

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Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · Jan 10

... and a man has died. The US is stockpiling 10 million vaccines and developing new ones. But, given the virus's spread in farms, a national population of 340 mn, vaccine hesitancy, and global vaccine inequity, are we as prepared as we should be?

www.technologyreview.com/2025/01/10/1...

Five years on from the start of the covid pandemic, are we ready for a potential avian influenza outbreak?

Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · Jan 10

Bird flu presents a "high threat with indeterminate risk," according to a public health specialist I spoke to this week. Flu viruses have a pretty horrific track record when it comes to pandemics.

In the US, H5N1 is spreading through dairy cows, there have been 66 cases confirmed in people...

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Reposted by Jess Hamzelou

ABSW @absw.bsky.social · Jan 10

#ABSWawards

🎯 News Item of the Year
For a single news item published or broadcast in any medium. Examples include breaking news stories and first in-depth reports.
Enter now! 🔗 zurl.co/mcWto

@jesshamzelou.bsky.social

Digital twins of human organs are here. They’re set to transform medical treatment.

Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · Dec 19

Engineers can make computer models of your organs, and some doctors are already using them to decide which bits of people's hearts to burn off in surgery(!)

Everything you wanted to know about digital twins (the health ones!) here: www.technologyreview.com/2024/12/19/1...

The models can be used to plan surgeries and in the future could be used to help trial new drugs.

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Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · Dec 16

As seen in this interesting paper about the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 by @michelleoyen.bsky.social and her colleagues

Jess Hamzelou @jesshamzelou.bsky.social · Dec 16

Wow TIL this is what a mouse uterus looks like

Reposted by Jess Hamzelou

Allison Arieff @aarieff.bsky.social · Dec 3

Nominate someone to our 2025 list of Innovators Under 35
Every year, MIT Technology Review recognizes 35 young innovators who are doing pioneering work across a range of technical fields including biotechnology, materials science, AI, computing+more. 35innovators.secure-platform.com/a