Former NASA employee, Josiah Zayner is a scientist who became the first known person to have edited his own DNA in an effort to make himself superhuman. Joining Richard Syrett, he discussed how he used a special tool to remove the protein myostatin from an area in his forearm, and why he live-streamed the process on his blog, claiming that this was the second time he had genetically modified himself. Zayner learned about CRISPR DNA editing when he was working at NASA, and decided to perform experiments on himself because of legal and ethical restrictions, saying that he "can’t morally experiment on other people, so I end up having to do these experiments on myself."
He was first able to implant genetic material from a jellyfish into his arm, saying humorously that he was "the first human/ jellyfish hybrid." When he detected that the test had been successful, he attempted to cure himself of a gastrointestinal disorder by ingesting healthy bioflora from another person, while sequencing DNA to use in his own body. This too, was successful. Since, as he quipped, "not everybody has had a positive experience with genetics" he hopes to someday use his skills to engineer his sense of smell, which he has been missing from birth. Zayner has also been selling home DNA kits so that anyone can do limited genetic experiments. He claims that his company The Odin, has sold "tens of thousands" of these units. As for those who are concerned that unsupervised genetic experimentation could end in disaster, Zayner says that the amount of damage that could be done at this level is not any more serious than most environmental factors we encounter on a normal basis.
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Open Lines
The last hour featured Open Lines. Jeff called from California to tell a scary tale of an apparent chupacabra murder. He said that he met a woman who told him of a couple who went camping in a remote area in the mountains. He woke up in the middle of the night to find that his girlfriend was missing her head and a chupacabra-type creature was nearby. He led police to the site, but was quickly arrested for murder. Darren in Hawaii talked about yesterday’s false "incoming missile" alert, which terrified residents all over the state when it showed up on their phones. He pointed out that the place where the alerts were sent is "a very cramped area" which would have made it easier for a technician to push the wrong button, which is what officials claim was the cause.
Mike Lindell Story
First-hour guest, Mike Lindell, the inventor of the popular MyPillow, told his rags-to-riches story of being addicted to crack before getting his life together and founding a multi-million dollar company. Lindell says his life's die was cast when he was fired multiple times from a job a grocery store for "wanting to do things my way." He tried to start multiple businesses with varying degrees of success before hitting bottom in 2008 when he didn’t sleep for two weeks because of his drug habit. While this was going on, he was still building the pillow business. Lindell said that on January 13, 2009, he prayed to wake up without a desire for drugs or alcohol and it worked for him. Since then, he has also become a motivational speaker and philanthropist.