Will this NEW Scientific Breakthrough Make Us Immune to Everything? | George Church
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Today's guest made bacteria immune to every virus that exists. This breakthrough could revolutionize medicine by creating virus proof cell therapies and potentially extending this protection to human cells. Also demonstrating that we can fundamentally rewrite the language of life itself, something that was previously thought impossible.
George Church is a Harvard Medical School genetics professor and pioneer of synthetic biology. He's an entrepreneur who's found in multiple biotech companies and is known for pushing the boundaries between science fiction and reality. His team just did something that sounds like pure science fiction.
They made living cells completely immune to every virus on Earth. That resistant immune, every single virus that tries to infect your cells just fails.
The viruses can't evolve around it. Here's the wild part. They didn't add anything new. They just removed a few letter from the genetic alphabet. But George isn't stopping there. He wants to do this to human cells. He's talking about engineering astronauts for Mars missions, bringing back wooly mammoths, and maybe even, just maybe, making humans virus proof to the implications are staggering.
The ethics are murky. And the timeline. Well, if church's track record tells us anything is happening far faster than we think.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
00:00:00 – Church’s team made cells virus-proof, a major medical breakthrough
00:02:34 – Radiation resistance may come from DNA repair linked to desiccation
00:04:43 – A few genes can boost bacteria’s radiation resistance
00:07:16 – Panspermia is unlikely due to harsh space conditions
00:10:50 – Space travel may need biological, not just physical, changes
00:14:19 – Regenesis explores synthetic biology's potential
00:18:19 – Height involves many genes, but single ones can have big effects
00:20:57 – Once sci-fi, genome sequencing and pig organs are now real
00:23:20 – Church and Venter are more collaborators than rivals
00:27:17 – Rewriting genes can create virus-proof organisms
00:35:36 – DNA can store data, but reading/writing is slow
00:41:06 – Gattaca and Jurassic Park portray genetics well with small flaws
00:44:03 – Gene therapies can be affordable for all
00:46:44 – Stem cells can create any body cell for therapy
00:49:15 – “Mirror humans” are possible but avoided ethically
00:53:59 – Genomic privacy isn’t an issue since we shed DNA constantly
00:56:09 – Gene editing helps endangered species adapt, not revive extinct ones
01:00:30 – Virus-proof humans are possible, but tough to deliver to all cells
01:02:59 – Gene therapies could reverse aging at the cellular level
01:04:18 – Church avoids saying “impossible,” but admits to timeline optimism
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1:12:52
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1:12:52
Does Avi Loeb Have PROOF of Alien Technology?
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Once again, I had the pleasure of speaking to one of the most famous and perhaps the most controversial astrophysicists in the world – Avi Loeb!
For those of you who don't know him, Avi is a professor of science at Harvard University, theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, and cosmologist. He is also a bestselling author and a dear friend of mine.
By the time you see this, Avi will have published his new book, Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars. In it, he explains why we need to become an interstellar species to ensure our survival and lays out a plan for how we can settle among the stars.
As usual, we take some time to judge a book by its cover and discuss what went into the making of this book. We also dig into the recent Galileo Project expedition to the Pacific Ocean to retrieve spherules of the first recognized interstellar meteor, IM1, which was led by Avi, and discuss whether they found evidence of alien life.
Judging a book by its cover: Interstellar (00:44)
On extraordinary evidence (08:13)
Does Avi have proof of alien life?! (13:55)
On David Grusch and government obligations (28:01)
Internet hate, constructive criticism, and the scientific method (42:01)
More on Interstellar and what it means to become an interstellar species (1:10:56)
Elon Musk’s plan to make humankind interplanetary (1:15:12)
On space archaeology (1:21:08)
Rapid fire audience questions (1:39:20)
Outro (1:50:57)
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Additional resources:
📚 Interstellar by Avi Loeb: https://a.co/d/gN18ylO
📺 Watch my most popular videos:
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Frank Wilczek • Nobel Prizewinner Frank Wilczek: Beautiful...
Eric Weinstein vs. Stephen Wolfram • Stephen Wolfram vs. Eric Weinstein: Mathem...
Sir Roger Penrose: • Nobel Prize in Physics, Black Holes and Wo...
Sabine Hossenfelder: • “I Don’t Care About Your Theory of Everyth...
Avi Loeb: • UFOs & UAPs: The Situation Has Changed! Av...
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Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.
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1:02:22
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1:02:22
Brian Keating on Humility, Chutzpah, and the Arrow of Time | The James Altucher Show
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Brian Keating and James Altucher have an unfiltered talk on humility, arrogance, and the strange mix of traits needed to achieve great things. From the wisdom of the Talmud to the Dunning–Kruger effect, they explore why even Nobel Prize winners wrestle with imposter syndrome.
James shares how writing books requires a mix of blind confidence and humility, while Brian connects scientific resilience to obsession, quests, and flow states. The two also talk candidly about the challenges of writing and publishing science books in today’s world—and Brian previews his bold new project exploring Jim Simons, “Chern–Simons Theory,” and the very arrow of time itself.
What You’ll Learn
Why success requires balancing humility with courage—and sometimes arrogance with ignorance
How Nobel Prize winners secretly struggle with imposter syndrome
Why writing books demands both blind confidence and ruthless editing
The difference between obsession and quest when pursuing success
What “Chern–Simons Theory” reveals about time, space, and the structure of the universe
Timestamped Chapters
00:00 Humility and Chutzpah in Science
06:35 "Feel Good Productivity Insights"
08:08 Considering Career Change for Fulfillment
10:36 "The Genius of Science"
13:54 Topology Links Time and Dimensions
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Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.
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16:42
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16:42
Chris Hadfield’s Final Orbit! The Moon Landing Hoax, UAPs, China & the New Space Race
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Astronaut and bestselling author Chris Hadfield joins me to discuss his new Cold War thriller Final Orbit and the real history behind it—UAPs, Operation Paperclip, and the exiled genius who built China’s rocket program. Along the way, we debate the moon landing hoax, the cost of the ISS, and why humans—not robots—must carry our story into the stars.
Key Takeaways:
00:00 Intro
03:06 The Cold War and space exploration
05:40 Conspiracy theories, UAPs, and whistleblowers
10:38 Checklists as a survival tool
16:06 Moon landing denial
21:26 Judging a book by its cover
26:38 Apollo-Soyuz collaboration
30:59 The legacy of Wernehr von Braun
34:20 McCarthyism and the future of space exploration
38:24 Chinese space program and rivalry
44:19 Is it reckless to send humans to space?
48:54 Outro
Additional resources:
➡️ Follow Chris Hadfield:
✖️ Twitter: https://x.com/cmdr_hadfield?lang=en 📚 Explore Chris Hadfield’s books: https://chrishadfield.ca/books/
➡️ My new book:
📖 Into the Impossible Volume 2: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: Lessons from Laureates to Concentrate Your Creativity and Ignite Your Career: https://a.co/d/hi50U9U
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Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.
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50:19
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50:19
From Pipe Bombs to Viagra: Nobel Prize Winner’s Secrets Revealed
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Lou Ignarro went from building pipe bombs as a curious teen to winning the Nobel Prize for discovering how a gas—nitric oxide—regulates blood flow, fuels Viagra, and revolutionized cardiovascular medicine. In this explosive conversation, we trace how one molecule transformed sex, science, and the story of human health.
Key Takeaways:
00:00 Intro
00:55 The molecule that saves and kills
04:00 The invention of the X-ray
05:44 Nitroglycerin: explosive or life-saving drug?
11:07 Fine-tuning and Lou’s religious beliefs
14:38 Judging a book by its cover
16:56 The importance of curiosity
20:00 Thoughts on the Nobel Prize
24:58 What does Viagra do and how does it work?
32:10 The importance of collaboration in scientific research
35:15 Achieving the breakthrough discovery
41:02 What happens if a woman takes viagra?
42:55 Other applications of nitric oxide
47:57 Lou’s heart-healthy diet
52:41 Outro
Additional resources:
➡️ Follow Lou Ignarro:
✖️ Twitter: https://x.com/drignarro
📚 Dr. NO by Lou Ignarro: https://a.co/d/gSarIKX
➡️ My new book:
📖 Into the Impossible Volume 2: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: Lessons from Laureates to Concentrate Your Creativity and Ignite Your Career: https://a.co/d/hi50U9U
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Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.
Make sure to follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Think like a physicist. Wonder like a human. Into the Impossible is where Cosmic Conversations happen — uniting Nobel Prize winners, iconoclasts, authors, and technologists to explore reality’s deepest questions. From AI to aliens, from biophysics to the brain, from the cosmos to the multiverse, Brian Keating, Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Physics at UC San Diego covers it all.
If you’ve ever asked What’s out there? or What’s next?, this is where curiosity meets clarity.
Learn to think like this. 🎙 Full episodes, notes & more: briankeating.com/podcast