Ideas, ThinkTanks...

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 astronauts discuss upcoming space station mission

Sat, 12 Jul 2025 11:19:35 +0000

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 astronauts discuss upcoming space station mission

The four crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission discuss their upcoming mission to the International Space Station. Crew-11 will carry NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov to the orbiting laboratory.

Credit: NASA

The post NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 astronauts discuss upcoming space station mission first appeared on The Futurist.

Michio Kaku Just Issued a Warning About the Moon’s Core After a Seismic Signal Was Detected

Sat, 12 Jul 2025 09:51:44 +0000

Michio Kaku Just Issued a Warning About the Moon’s Core After a Seismic Signal Was Detected

Something strange is happening deep inside the Moon, and it has top scientists on edge. After NASA picked up a mysterious seismic signal coming from the Moon’s core, Michio Kaku sounded the alarm, warning that this could change everything we know about our closest neighbor in space. Could the Moon’s core be waking up? Is this a sign of something big about to happen that could even affect Earth? What secrets is the Moon hiding beneath its surface?

Credit to : Voyager

The post Michio Kaku Just Issued a Warning About the Moon’s Core After a Seismic Signal Was Detected first appeared on The Futurist.

Oumuamua Was Strange, But This New Interstellar Object Defies Physics

Sat, 12 Jul 2025 09:32:49 +0000

Oumuamua Was Strange, But This New Interstellar Object Defies Physics

Scientists just detected an enormous interstellar visitor that’s glowing WAY brighter than it should be. This cosmic wanderer, named 3I/ATLAS, is zooming at a mind-blowing 150,000 miles per hour. It’s only the third confirmed object ever detected from beyond our solar system, but this one’s breaking all the rules. Is this just an unusually large comet with weird properties? Or could this mysterious brightness suggest something far more exotic?

Credit to : Voyager

The post Oumuamua Was Strange, But This New Interstellar Object Defies Physics first appeared on The Futurist.

We’re Doomed? NASA Tracks Asteroid That May Strike Earth

Sat, 12 Jul 2025 09:19:37 +0000

We’re Doomed? NASA Tracks Asteroid That May Strike Earth

NASA has just detected a massive asteroid heading dangerously close to Earth — and some projections say it could collide. Are we looking at a near-miss.

Credit to : BRIGHT SIDE Universe

The post We’re Doomed? NASA Tracks Asteroid That May Strike Earth first appeared on The Futurist.

Voyager 2 just made an IMPOSSIBLE Discovery at the Edge of the Solar System

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 10:05:52 +0000

Voyager 2 just made an IMPOSSIBLE Discovery at the Edge of the Solar System

When Voyager 2 was launched in 1977, it carried with it a golden record, a collection of human voices, music, and a map to Earth—our handshake to the universe. But nobody imagined that this tiny probe, built with 1970s tech and no more computing power than a pocket calculator, would become our first witness to a place that defies everything we know. Now, over 12 billion miles away, Voyager 2 has crossed into a region where the rules of space seem to unravel, where plasma pulses without reason, magnetic fields bend like silk ribbons, and particles behave as if choreographed by something… unseen. This isn’t just data—it’s a whisper from the edge of reality. And what it’s telling us… changes everything.

Credit to : Phenomena

The post Voyager 2 just made an IMPOSSIBLE Discovery at the Edge of the Solar System first appeared on The Futurist.

James Webb Telescope’s Final Discovery on Proxima B CONFIRMS what WE ALL FEARED

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 10:04:37 +0000

James Webb Telescope’s Final Discovery on Proxima B CONFIRMS what WE ALL FEARED

The James Webb Space Telescope has uncovered a shocking revelation about Proxima B, the closest exoplanet to Earth. Far from being the potential haven many had hoped for, Webb’s observations reveal a hostile and chaotic environment that defies expectations. From extreme atmospheric conditions to mysterious anomalies on its surface, Proxima B is proving to be a far greater mystery—and a nightmare—for scientists to unravel. What exactly is happening on this distant world, and what does it mean for the search for life in the cosmos? Join us as we delve into the unsettling details of this groundbreaking discovery.
Credit to : Phenomena

The post James Webb Telescope’s Final Discovery on Proxima B CONFIRMS what WE ALL FEARED first appeared on The Futurist.

Memories without brains

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Certain slime moulds can make decisions, solve mazes and remember things. What can we learn from the blob?

- by Matthew Sims

Read at Aeon

Oumuamua Was Strange, But This New Interstellar Object Is Even Stranger

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 09:44:23 +0000

Oumuamua Was Strange, But This New Interstellar Object Is Even Stranger

The post Oumuamua Was Strange, But This New Interstellar Object Is Even Stranger first appeared on The Futurist.

A Deep Trip To Our Neighboring Galaxy Andromeda

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 09:41:15 +0000

A Deep Trip To Our Neighboring Galaxy Andromeda

A Deep Trip To Our Neighboring Galaxy Andromeda
Credit to : Insane Curiosity

The post A Deep Trip To Our Neighboring Galaxy Andromeda first appeared on The Futurist.

NASA Finally Knows Why Satellites Fail Over South America

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 09:20:37 +0000

NASA Finally Knows Why Satellites Fail Over South America

Something strange is happening over South America — and it’s been crashing satellites for years. NASA has finally uncovered the truth behind this mysterious space hazard, and the explanation is more mind-blowing than you’d expect. In this video, we’re diving into the danger zone known as the South Atlantic Anomaly, where Earth’s magnetic field goes a little… weird. Why do electronics glitch out here? What’s lurking just above the clouds? And how close are we to a space disaster we didn’t see coming? Strap in as we decode the invisible forces threatening our tech from space.
Credit to : BRIGHT SIDE

The post NASA Finally Knows Why Satellites Fail Over South America first appeared on The Futurist.

Massive Water Discovery on Mars Changes Everything

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 13:09:25 +0000

Massive Water Discovery on Mars Changes Everything

Scientists have just discovered a strange, massive body of water beneath the surface of Mars — and it’s sparking new hope for finding life on the Red Planet. This isn’t just frozen ice or dry riverbeds — we’re talking about a possible liquid underground ocean that could be millions of years old, hidden beneath Mars’ icy crust.

Credit to : BRIGHT SIDE Series

The post Massive Water Discovery on Mars Changes Everything first appeared on The Futurist.

Ancient water clocks

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 10:01:00 +0000

For centuries, time-measuring tools were woefully imprecise. Moving from the Sun to water birthed a revolution in timekeeping

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

Freedom over death

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Death is a certainty. But choosing how and when we depart is a modest opportunity for freedom – and dignity

- by Michael Cholbi

Read at Aeon

Blue room

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 10:01:00 +0000

Solitary inmates find calm in nature videos in an experiment reflecting the human need to connect with the natural world

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

The French liar

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

René Descartes, the founder of modern philosophy, was furiously condemned by his contemporaries. Why did they fear him?

- by Sandrine Parageau

Read at Aeon

The search for America: the family

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 10:01:00 +0000

Can societies exist without families? Can individuality thrive in them? Margaret Mead on the brave new world of 1959

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

The replica and the original

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Architectural copies of lost structures require reckoning with history and heritage. At what cost is the past rebuilt?

- by Elizabeth Kostina

Read at Aeon

Homo crustaceous

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

‘Everything becomes crab’ is more than an absurd meme. The crab is a deep symbol of our devil’s bargain with technology

- by Michael Garfield

Read at Aeon

Primero, sueño

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 10:01:00 +0000

Cinematic shots of Californian farmland frame the stories of its immigrant workers, who live between precarity and hope

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

From scattered traces

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

How the ideas circulating among one noblewoman’s coterie in 16th-century Dubrovnik anticipated modern feminist thought

- by Luka Boršić

Read at Aeon

The lights of Flushing

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 10:01:00 +0000

A cherished local tradition keeps memories of the departed alight in this tiny village on England’s southwest coast

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

Are lefties really more creative? 100 years of data say no

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 12:09:56 +0000

A sweeping review of more than a century’s research upends the popular notion that left-handers are naturally more creative. Cornell psychologist Daniel Casasanto’s team sifted nearly a thousand studies, ultimately finding no consistent advantage for lefties on standard divergent-thinking tests—and even a slight edge for right-handers in some. The myth appears to thrive on coincidence: left-handedness is rare and so is creative genius, plus lefties’ overrepresentation in art and music gets cherry-picked while other professions are ignored.

Rethinking adult ADHD

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

The diagnostic category of adult ADHD is becoming more inclusive. That’s not the same as it being overdiagnosed

- by Margaret Sibley

Read at Aeon

The cosmic distance ladder with Terence Tao: part two

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 10:01:00 +0000

An engrossing look at how knowledge has grown alongside our technologies, and how we might unlock the puzzles of the Universe

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

Walk in these

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Shoes are deeply personal, literally moulded to our lives. But they create our social lives as much as express them

- by Matthew McCormack

Read at Aeon

The beat of goombay

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Diasporas are made of vast constellations of countless people, fused together through memory, meaning – and music

- by Salwa Halloway

Read at Aeon

The whooper highway

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 10:01:00 +0000

An immersive data visualisation traces an endangered crane’s perilous migratory path over North America

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

Awkward silences

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000

What is it about lulls in conversation that make them so very uncomfortable? It has to do with how we connect with each other

- by Rebecca Roache

Read at Aeon

David Deutsch: explanations

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 10:01:00 +0000

What’s the difference between a good explanation and a bad one? A physicist argues this is the key to all human progress

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

Taliban bride

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Women in Afghanistan are prisoners in their own homes. This is the story of Marjan, married at 12 to a Taliban fighter

- by Zala & Asad Nariman

Read at Aeon

Inside Fallingwater

Mon, 23 Jun 2025 10:01:00 +0000

Take a tour of Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece of organic architecture built atop a waterfall in rural Pennsylvania

- by Aeon Video

Watch at Aeon

Is AI truly creative? Turns out creativity is in the eye of the beholder

Thu, 08 May 2025 15:24:27 +0000

What makes people think an AI system is creative? New research shows that it depends on how much they see of the creative act. The findings have implications for how we research and design creative AI systems, and they also raise fundamental questions about how we perceive creativity in other people.

Creativity boosts standardized literacy and numeracy test scores: Australia

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 04:51:47 +0000

A groundbreaking study shows that creativity plays an essential role in academic success, suggesting that students who think outside the box are more likely to excel in literacy and numeracy assessments.

Professional artists viewed as more creative than AI programs

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 17:52:34 +0000

In the rapidly developing contest between human creativity and artificial intelligence algorithms, professional artists still have an edge in producing more creative AI-assisted artwork than the AI programs themselves or novice artists, according to new research.

Researchers identify a brain circuit for creativity

Thu, 13 Feb 2025 19:36:06 +0000

Researchers analyzed data from 857 patients across 36 fMRI brain imaging studies and mapped a common brain circuit for creativity.

A team with diverse expertise produces novel ideas -- but are they practical?

Tue, 21 Jan 2025 17:59:15 +0000

A first-of-its-kind study shows that while teams with differing skill sets and perspectives bring fresh, unique ideas to the table, they often struggle to create practical, workable solutions -- raising important questions for managers and businesses worldwide.

Origins of creativity in the brain

Mon, 15 Jul 2024 14:35:38 +0000

New results could ultimately help lead to interventions that spark creative thought or aid people who have mental illnesses that disrupt these regions of the brain.

AI found to boost individual creativity -- at the expense of less varied content

Sat, 13 Jul 2024 02:21:27 +0000

A new study finds that AI enhances creativity by boosting the novelty of story ideas as well as the 'usefulness' of stories -- their ability to engage the target audience and potential for publication. However, AI was not judged to enhance the work produced by more creative writers and the study also warns that while AI may enhance individual creativity it may also result in a loss of collective novelty, as AI-assisted stories were found to contain more similarities to each other and were less varied and diverse.

Creativity starts in the cradle, new research shows

Wed, 10 Jul 2024 23:55:07 +0000

New research indicates that babies can begin grasping complex language and ideas.

The AI paradox: Building creativity to protect against AI

Thu, 30 May 2024 17:26:51 +0000

Cultivating creativity in schools is vital for a future driven by artificial intelligence (AI). But while teachers embrace creativity as an essential 21st century skill, a lack of valid and reliable creativity tests means schools struggle to assess student achievement. Now, a new machine-learning model is providing teachers with access to high-quality, fit-for-purpose creativity tests, that can score assessments in a fraction of the time and a fraction of the cost.

Do epilepsy medications taken during pregnancy affect a child's creativity?

Wed, 29 May 2024 20:24:32 +0000

While older drugs for epilepsy, taken while pregnant, have been shown in previous research to affect the creative thinking of children, a new study finds no effects on creativity for children born to those taking newer epilepsy drugs.

Composition co-written by AI performed by choir and published as sheet music

Mon, 14 Aug 2023 11:45:30 +0000

Ed Newton-Rex, a creative AI pioneer and VP Audio at Stability AI, says that he’s become the first author to publish a piece of classical music that uses generative AI. The musician and entrepreneur wrote his “I stand in the library,” a piece for the choir and piano, to a poem produced by OpenAI‘s generative AI model GPT3. Written back in 2022, the 15-minute composition has been premiered at the Live from London online classical music festival, performed by a choral group VOCES8. The full version of the performance is available (behind paywall) on the festival’s website, but here’s an…

This story continues at The Next Web

How to fulfil your creative potential: An unmissable talk at TNW Conference

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 07:00:34 +0000

Holly Blondin will be speaking at TNW Conference, which takes place on June 15 & 16 in Amsterdam. If you want to experience the event (and say hi to our editorial team!), we’ve got something special for our loyal readers. Use the promo code READ-TNW-25 and get a 25% discount on your business pass for TNW Conference. See you in Amsterdam! Few are the blessed people in the world who are entirely immune to procrastination. Whether from lack of motivation, fear of failure, succumbing to distractions and temptations, or an overestimation of future productivity, habitual or “chronic” procrastinators make up approximately 20% of…

This story continues at The Next Web

The ultimate guide to video editing for newbies

Mon, 02 May 2022 07:16:11 +0000

Ever watched a YouTube or TikTok video and thought, “I could create something like that”? Well, that’s easier said than done when you haven’t created a video before. While our unlimited access to content makes video creation appear simple (if there are so many videos out there, it can’t be that hard, right?), there are a few common pitfalls first-time video makers often run into. We spoke with video editing expert, Kwangsub Kim, to get the pro tips you need to create an amazing first video. After being in the business for over 20 years, Kim became vice president of…

This story continues at The Next Web

7 things to look for in your first video editing software

Fri, 08 Apr 2022 11:01:52 +0000

Whether you fancy yourself as the next Scorsese or want to spruce up your travel vlog, a handy video editor is vital in any digital creator’s toolkit. When you’ve finally captured your footage, and it’s almost ready for the world to see, some quick and simple editing can prevent it from getting lost in the 720,000 hours of video uploaded online every day. Here we’ll break down what you should prioritize in your search for video editing software and tools. Compatibility First things first. You need to consider what type and model of cameras you’ll be using most and whether…

This story continues at The Next Web

Do you need to be alone to be creative? Here’s what the experts say

Wed, 26 Jan 2022 11:08:48 +0000

Before the pandemic started, the debate between open office proponents and haters was as hot as ever, with a new day and a new ‘study’ showing favorable results for rubbing elbows with colleagues. And the next day, one professing the evils of the incessant noise machine we’d created. Little did we know we’d soon all be doing our own unintentional ‘experiment’ into the benefits and evils of working solo. But now, after close to two years, offices in many parts of the world are asking employees to return to work. Needless to say, this is creating some tension between those…

This story continues at The Next Web

Can art mobilize people to fight climate change? This artist thinks so

Mon, 25 Oct 2021 15:21:19 +0000

Neuroscientists at Columbia University observed a curious thing. When they asked a group of test subjects to concentrate on a painting of an angel wielding a sword, they found it triggered responses in the subjects’ wrists. Others have reported the sensation of dancing when observing Degas’ Ballerinas. This is due to a process called embodied cognition. When we view a piece of art, our brain mirrors actions depicted on the canvas. Not only can art inspire physical action, it can also stimulate emotion and make the intangible feel tangible. According to eco artist Thijs Biersteker: Context is also important in…

This story continues at The Next Web

The creator economy needs a Universal Basic Income — here’s why

Thu, 07 Oct 2021 13:33:18 +0000

The internet — and now Web3 — has created an environment where anyone can share their creations with people worldwide. Digital technology has also enabled professionals to work remotely without being tied down by an office job. The creator economy encompasses the new generation of creators and innovators who are not limited by the 9–5. This trend has been emerging for years, but it’s only recently been given a name. It’s an economy where creative entrepreneurs can work from anywhere they please, regardless of whether they’re employed by someone else, freelancing, or running their own business. With the rise in creative…

This story continues at The Next Web

China’s Cracking Down on Kids’ Screen Time, and the Implications Could Be Far-Reaching

Wed, 29 Sep 2021 17:09:45 +0000

Screens are taking over our lives. According to market research firm eMarketer, in 2020 adults in the US spent an average of 7 hours and 50 minutes per day looking at screens. That total is likely much higher for desk workers, who look at their computers during the work day then look at their phones or TVs in the evening.

Screen time is bad enough for adults, but what about kids? Video games, social media, show streaming, and messaging have all become common activities not just for teens, but for children too, and the impacts often aren’t positive. Two weeks ago, for example, the Wall Street Journal broke the story that Facebook has downplayed findings from its own research on the ill effects of its platforms (namely Instagram) on teenage girls. Rates of depression, anxiety, and eating disorders among adolescents and adults are on the rise.

In the US, it’s mostly up to parents to restrict or control their kids’ screen time and social media usage. But the degree to which parents try to limit these activities (and succeed at doing so) varies widely.

In China, it’s a different story. Forget parents—the government has taken matters into its own hands and is seeing to it that kids don’t while away their time (and their young developing brains) on worthless screen-centered activities.

Out of Time

At the end of August, China’s National Press and Publication Administration implemented new rules restricting the amount of time that minors (defined here as under age 18) can spend playing video games, slashing the limit to one hour per day on weekends and holidays. The previous limit, set in 2019, was 3 hours on holidays and 1.5 hours on other days.

Two weeks ago, ByteDance Ltd., which owns TikTok and its Chinese version Douyin, followed suit, implementing restrictions for users under 14. The app’s new “youth mode” allows kids and teens to be on the platform for up to 40 minutes a day total, and only between the hours of 6am and 10pm.

“Adolescents are the future of the motherland, and protecting the physical and mental health of minors is related to the vital interests of masses, and in cultivating newcomers in the era of national rejuvenation,” the Press and Publications Administration said in a statement. In other words, the youth are the future, and if we let screens and social media turn their brains to mush while they’re young, the future’s not going to be very bright.

Screen Time and Geopolitics?

The restrictions come amid growing geopolitical tensions between China and the US, and crackdowns by the Chinese government over various sectors of the economy, from big tech to education to ride-hailing and real estate.

Limiting kids’ screen time may not appear to be connected to China’s geopolitical ambitions, but considering the longer-term implications of these policies says otherwise. All else being equal, which country is more likely to produce a generation of great leaders, innovators, scientists, businesspeople, creatives, and the like: one where clear rules (and a cultural stigma) around screens force kids to spend time on more productive activities and curb the negative effects of screens on their mental health—or one where kids spend hours each day immersed in virtual worlds, distracting them from real-life activities and wearing down their self-esteem, focus, and social skills in the process?

Of course, not all else is equal between China and the US. Though both nations are global powerhouses, they’re worlds apart in terms of culture, government, education systems, and social norms, to name just a few.

It’s not unreasonable to think that government restrictions on kids’ screen time could help make China’s next generation more capable than America’s. But for one, it’s uncertain how strictly the time limits will be enforced. Douyin and gaming platforms will require name and age verification, and some gaming platforms will do periodic facial recognition checks on players. Tao Ran, who directs Beijing’s Adolescent Psychological Development Base, estimated that around 20 percent of kids will find a way to circumvent the restrictions. “Some minors are too smart, if you have a system in place to restrict them from gaming they will try to beat the system by borrowing accounts of their older relatives and find a way around facial recognition,” Tao said.

In addition, just because kids aren’t gaming or watching Douyin videos doesn’t mean they’re studying, playing sports, or doing other activities considered “productive”; they could easily end up spending more time on other apps, social media, or streaming platforms.

Lastly, even if these restrictions contribute to giving Chinese youth a competitive edge in the future, it may be hard to pull ahead of the US in terms of fostering innovation, as Oxford fellows Carl Frey and Michael Osborne argued in a Foreign Affairs piece last year.

Tellingly, ByteDance is pushing educational material in Douyin’s youth mode, including “interesting popular science experiments, exhibitions in museums and galleries, beautiful scenery across the country… [and] explanations of historical knowledge.”

Not a Bad Idea

While Americans may not feel threatened by China’s screen time restrictions for young people, perhaps they should serve as an example, or a kick in the pants—for parents, regulators, app makers, and anyone who feels that screen time and social media are having a detrimental effect on their lives.

As detailed in the 2020 docu-drama The Social Dilemma, social media gets people “hooked” by exploiting the brain’s dopamine response and serving up customized content to keep us scrolling, watching, and clicking. Psychiatrist Anna Lembke’s new book Dopamine Nation warns against the ills of this sort of addiction, encouraging people to resist “compulsive overconsumption” and “immerse yourself fully in the life that you’ve been given.”

We shouldn’t need government regulations to do this, and our kids most definitely shouldn’t either.

Image Credit: Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Scientists Completed the First Human Genome 20 Years Ago. How Far Have We Come, and What’s Next?

Tue, 28 Sep 2021 14:00:57 +0000

If the Human Genome Project (HGP) was an actual human, he or she would be a revolutionary whiz kid. A prodigy in the vein of Mozart. One who changed the biomedical universe forever as a teenager, but ultimately has much more to offer in the way of transforming mankind.

It’s been 20 years since scientists published the first draft of the human genome. Since its launch in the 90s, the HGP fundamentally altered how we understand our genetic blueprint, our evolution, and the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. It spawned famous offspring, including gene therapy, mRNA vaccines, and CRISPR. It’s the parent to HGP-Write, a global consortium that seeks to rewrite life.

Yet as genome sequencing costs and time continue to dive, the question remains: what have we actually learned from the HGP? After two decades, is it becoming obsolete, with a new generation of genomic data in the making? And with controversial uses such as designer babies, human-animal chimeras, organs-in-a-tube, and shaky genetic privacy, how is the legacy of the HGP guiding the future of humanity?

In a special issue of Science, scientists across the globe took a deep dive into the lessons learned from the world’s first biomedical moonshot. “Although some hoped having the human genome in hand would let us sprint to medical miracles, the field is more an ongoing relay race of contributions from genomic studies,” wrote Science senior editor Laura Zahn.

Decoding, reworking, and potentially one day augmenting the human genome is an ultramarathon, buoyed by potential medical miracles and fraught with possible abuses.

“As genomic data and its uses continue to balloon, it will be critical to curb potential abuse and ensure that the legacy of the HGP contributes to the betterment of all human lives,” wrote Drs. Jennifer Rood and Aviv Regev at Genentech in a perspectives article for the issue.

An Apollo Program to Decode Life

Big data projects are a dime a dozen these days. A global effort to solve the brain? Yup. Scouring centenarians’ genes to find those that lead to longevity? Sure! Spitting in a tube to find out your ancestry and potential disease risks—the kits are on sale for the holidays! Genetically engineering anything—from yeast that brew insulin to an organism entirely new to Earth—been there, done that!

These massive international collaborations and sci-fi stretch goals that we now take for granted owe their success to the HGP. It’s had a “profound effect on biomedical research,” said Rood and Regev.

Flashback to the 1990s. Pulp Fiction played in theaters, Michael Jordan owned the NBA, and an international team decided to crack the base code of human life.

The study arose from years of frustration that genetic mapping tools needed better resolution. Scientists could roughly track down a gene related to certain types of genetic disorders, like Huntington’s disease, which is due to a single gene mutation. But it soon became clear that most of our toughest medical foes, such as cancer, often have multiple genetic hiccups. With the tools that were available at the time, solving these disorders was similar to debugging thousands of lines of code through a fogged-up lens.

Ultimately, the pioneers realized we needed an “infinitely dense” map of the genome to really begin decoding, said the authors. Meaning, we needed a whole picture of the human genome, at high resolution, and the tools to get it. Before the HGP, we were peeking at our genome through consumer binoculars. After it, we got the James Webb s pace telescope to look into our inner genetic universe.

The result was a human “reference genome,” a mold that nearly all biomedical studies map onto, from synthetic biology to chasing disease-causing mutants to the creation of CRISPR. Massive global consortiums, including the 1000 Genomes Project, the Cancer Genome Atlas, the BRAIN Initiative, and the Human Cell Atlas have all followed in HGP’s steps. As a first big data approach to medicine, before the internet was ubiquitous, HGP laid out a new vision for collaborative science by openly sharing data from labs across the globe—something Covid-19 vaccines have benefited from.

Yet as with AOL, CDs, and Microsoft FrontPage, HGP may be a legacy product from a bygone era.

The Next Generation

The first relatively finished reference genome was published in 2003. Yet two core questions at the heart of the HGP remain. One, what exactly should be considered a “complete reference”? Two, how can it be decoded to benefit humans?

“Reference” is an ambiguous idea in the age of increasingly cheaper genome sequencing. The original reference was what science considered an “average” human. It wasn’t, but the reference genome did focus on mapping the most common variants in a gene. Yet it’s increasingly obvious that humans are wildly diverse in our genetic differences, which could—for example—have a say in our longevity.

“Capturing the ever-growing genetic diversity of humans requires profiling a more diverse set of genomes,” said the authors. “Ultimately, although highly useful, a single reference genome is inherently biased.” Your genealogy results from consumer kits, for example, could be on point or off base, depending on your race and the genetic background of their reference samples. For now, it’s mostly people with European ancestry.

“The HGP and its legacy must serve humanity as a whole, not neglecting those who are currently underrepresented in biological research,” the team said.

Then there’s making sense of it. The HGP itself decoded the genome but didn’t provide an understanding of it—such as what genetic elements actually do, how they work together, and how they contribute to health and disease.

We’re getting there, but slowly. We’ve found genes that protect against Alzheimer’s, and genes that contribute to cancer and muscle disorders. Using a popular method called GWAS (genome-wide association study), scientists are increasingly capable of fishing out gene variants—often hundreds at a time—that play a role in more complex disorders such as autism. But teasing out how bucketloads of genes affect any disease remains difficult. With the rise of machine learning and AI, however, the authors said, we have a powerful tool to begin “unpacking its secrets to affect health.”

What’s next? Thanks to ongoing massive whole genome sequencing projects, we could be shedding the veil of HGP’s “average” human and entering a new era of multiple reference genomes—or even personalized ones. With this would come massive concerns around privacy. The Golden State Killer case, though it had a “happy” ending in that it was ultimately solved, relied on a free and public genealogy database that people may not have knowingly agreed to partake in. Unexpected findings related to long-lost relatives, a high risk of serious diseases, or our own heritage, especially if shared with third parties, could damage relationships or even overthrow our sense of self.

From the idea of a reference genome to a smorgasbord of genetic tools, HGP’s legacy is here to stay. As we move towards a more “snowflake” era of genomics—one that stresses individuality either for mixed-and-matched groups or individuals—the original goal remains the same.

The project left us with a major mission, still relevant even 20 years later, the authors said. We need to better understand how to wield our genetic blueprints, both common and rare, to “promote human health and treat disease”—for all of humanity.

Image Credit: Thor Deichmann from Pixabay