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posted by chromas on Tuesday October 16 2018, @06:30PM   Printer-friendly

Why gene editing could create so many jobs

As more treatments that rely on gene editing move from research laboratories into hospitals around the world, the demand for the skilled genetic engineers who make it possible is expected to soar. The UK government predicts there could be more than 18,000 new jobs created by gene and cell therapy in Britain alone by 2030, while the US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates it will see a 7% increase in jobs for biomedical engineers and a 13% increase in medical scientists, together accounting for around 17,500 jobs.

But there will also be a need for people away from the laboratory bench, including those who can help make sense of the huge amounts of data that will be generated as medical treatment becomes increasingly personalised to patients' individual genomes.

"Gene therapy is rapidly becoming an accepted and growing part of the medical research and development industry," says Michele Calos, president of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy and a professor of genetics at Stanford University. "The growth of established and new gene therapy companies is expected to be accompanied by an increase in jobs, as these companies recruit scientists to staff their expanded operations.

"The gene therapy industry requires a range of graduates, with backgrounds in scientific fields like genetics, medicine, molecular biology, virology, bioengineering and chemical engineering, as well as business graduates."


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  • (Score: 3, Touché) by fyngyrz on Tuesday October 16 2018, @07:33PM (3 children)

    by fyngyrz (6567) on Tuesday October 16 2018, @07:33PM (#749645) Journal

    Perhaps we will finally be able to actually fix stupid. The "you can't fix stupid" problem has been the cause of a great deal of misery on many levels.

    • (Score: 2) by Snow on Tuesday October 16 2018, @07:40PM

      by Snow (1601) on Tuesday October 16 2018, @07:40PM (#749646) Journal

      As Idiocracy predicts, the first widespread usage will be for hair loss. Or penis related.

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @08:42PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @08:42PM (#749659)

      The majority of "stupid" is not genetically based. Thinking is hard, many people opt to not even bother. The real problem comes from the various cultures and families that disrespect education and critical thinking.

      Genetic modification is unnecessary and dangerous, we really don't know enough about how genetic changes can affect organisms and heredity. Personally I would keep it almost 100% limited to changing DNA to only match what another human being already has so we know it is at least a normal human sequence.

      You DO know what happens when humans go down the genetic superiority route right? Personally I think society needs a lot more attention than the species' genetics.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @01:02AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @01:02AM (#749735)

      Whenever you build idiot-proof software, bigger idiots come along to ruin it.
      (Paraphrased Rick Cook quote)

  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday October 16 2018, @07:51PM (1 child)

    by looorg (578) on Tuesday October 16 2018, @07:51PM (#749649)

    "The gene therapy industry requires a range of graduates, with backgrounds in scientific fields like genetics, medicine, molecular biology, virology, bioengineering and chemical engineering, as well as business graduates."

    Do you really NEED the business graduates tho? I'm sure we could train one of the other people to become soulsucking buckets of greed that will eventually destroy the entire business.

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday October 16 2018, @11:12PM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday October 16 2018, @11:12PM (#749698) Journal

      Do you really NEED the business graduates tho?

      It may be a necessary risk mitigation strategy for dumbing down mad geniuses hired on a '... must have 20 years of gene editing' job requirement.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @10:13PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @10:13PM (#749677)

    They can get a job in gene editing and fast-track the creation of new genders!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @11:15PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 16 2018, @11:15PM (#749701)

      This is how this world will end, down the drain of one or many of the infinite number of gender specific toilets.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @12:47AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @12:47AM (#749727)

        ...infinite number of gender specific toilets.

        If you are that picky about a person's plumbing, you are not ready for space travel [pinimg.com]

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @12:40AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @12:40AM (#749725)

      Do they use Emacs or Vi to do the editing?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @09:59PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @09:59PM (#750160)

        Duh... Ruby on Rails, of course.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @12:57AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @12:57AM (#749733)

    They don't hire, they just manufacture their own employees.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @03:13AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @03:13AM (#749797)

    So the Data Science MEME is drying up? You need to push new fucking fantasy jobs in order to fill Universities with useful idiots...

  • (Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Wednesday October 17 2018, @05:02AM

    by Rosco P. Coltrane (4757) on Wednesday October 17 2018, @05:02AM (#749827)

    Jobs is dead. No amount of gene editing will bring him back. Get over it.

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