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In this week’s episode of Medicine: The Truth, hosts Jeremy Corr and Dr. Robert Pearl probe the facts beneath healthcare’s biggest headlines. Today’s show opens with a scientific breakthrough that could change the future of inherited disease: a new gene-editing technique that may allow researchers to correct DNA errors in human embryos with far greater precision than earlier CRISPR approaches.
Dr. Pearl explains that the advance, developed by researchers at Columbia University, uses a method called base editing. Unlike traditional CRISPR, which cuts out and replaces sections of DNA, base editing can alter individual nucleotides (the “letters” that make up genetic code). The difference, Pearl says, is comparable to moving from rewriting entire pages of text to correcting a single wrong letter inside a single word.
The promise is extraordinary. For families affected by one of the thousands of rare genetic diseases caused by single DNA errors, this technology could one day make it possible to prevent devastating inherited conditions before birth. Children who otherwise might face blindness, severe disability or premature death could instead be born free of the genetic defect.
But the ethical concerns are equally profound. The same technology that could prevent horrific disease could also be used to modify embryos for non-medical traits. Pearl warns that this possibility raises fears about “designer babies,” eugenics, private-sector incentives and the lack of federally funded oversight for embryo research in the United States.
Here are the other major storylines from episode 108:
- A large study of 9 million patients found that four risk factors (high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and smoking) are associated with nearly all heart attacks and strokes.
- The FDA approved a new sunscreen ingredient already used in Europe for decades, highlighting both the promise of better melanoma prevention and the slow pace of U.S. sunscreen regulation.
- Employers are preparing for further increases in healthcare premiums, deductibles and copayments, with many companies limiting or eliminating GLP-1 coverage for obesity.
- Preliminary data show U.S. infant mortality has reached an all-time low, but progress remains slow.
- Medicaid work requirements could cause millions of eligible people to lose coverage because of paperwork errors, shifting costs to emergency rooms, hospitals and state budgets.
- New rules under the No Surprises Act aim to speed dispute resolution between insurers and providers, but Pearl warns that payment disputes will continue as long as healthcare costs rise faster than people’s ability to pay.
- Pearl outlines three requirements for real healthcare transformation: keeping people healthy by controlling chronic disease, moving more care into the home with generative AI support and shifting payment from fee-for-service to capitation.
- The episode closes with two examples of AI already helping clinicians see what they might otherwise miss.
Tune in to hear the full discussion and subscribe to Medicine: The Truth for more fact-based analysis of the medical, scientific and policy stories shaping American healthcare.
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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine” about the impact of AI on the future of medicine.
Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on X and LinkedIn.