Jess Hamzelou

DHS is using Google and Adobe AI to make videos Immigration agencies have been flooding social media with bizarre, seemingly AI-generated content. We now know more about what might be making it.

A scoop: DHS is using AI video generators from Google and Adobe to make content shared with the public. It comes as workers in tech have put pressure on their employers to denounce the agency's activities.
www.technologyreview.com/2026/01/29/1...

Meet the Vitalists: the hardcore longevity enthusiasts who believe death is “wrong” They argue we need a revolution—and more and more influential scientists, funders, and politicians are taking them seriously.

There's a group of people who believe death is humanity's core problem. Meet the Vitalists: the hardcore longevity enthusiasts who want to spark a longevity revolution. "Without a revolution, we're as good as dead," cofounder Adam Gries told me.

www.technologyreview.com/2026/01/29/1...

Meet Jim O’Neill, the longevity enthusiast who is now RFK Jr.’s right-hand man The newest addition to Trump’s health agency wants to create new cities in the sea, extend human lifespan, and Make America Healthy Again.

The Washington Post reports that Jim O'Neill will replace Susan Monarez as head of the CDC. O'Neill is a longevity enthusiast who has supported deregulation of drugs and the idea of creating new jurisdictions at sea. Here's my recent profile: www.technologyreview.com/2025/06/30/1...

Exclusive: A record-breaking baby has been born from an embryo that’s over 30 years old The embryos were created in 1994, while the expectant father was still a toddler, and donated via a Christian “embryo adoption” agency.

The world's "oldest baby" has just been born: a big welcome to the world to baby Thaddeus, who developed from an embryo that was in storage for 30 and a half years www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/29/1...

Trade Journalism Award Finalists Recognizing excellence in writing for a specialized audience

I'm thrilled to be a finalist for the NIHCM trade journalism award alongside so many amazing reporters whose work I really admire (hi @kakape.bsky.social and @jaredwhitlock.bsky.social !)

Thank you NIHCM!
nihcm.org/awards/trade...

Under the new bill, treatments will only need to have passed preliminary phase I trials (which tend to involve 20-100 people) before they can be made accessible.

Biothicists and legal scholars are concerned about the ethics of selling unproven drugs - and worry that people could get hurt.

The bill essentially expands Right to Try, a law designed for terminally ill people. But was developed and lobbied for by people interested in longevity.

The idea is to let people experiment with potentially lifespan-extending drugs.

The first US hub for experimental medical treatments is coming Montana just passed a new bill backed by longevity enthusiasts that will enable access to drugs and therapies that are not approved by the FDA.

Montana just passed a bill that will allow clinics to sell experimental medical treatments

www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/14/1...

Bryan Johnson wants to start a new religion in which “the body is God” The multimillionaire longevity influencer thinks his new faith could save humanity from superintelligent AI.

I met with Bryan Johnson recently. He told me about his plans to start a new religion where "the body is God" (and how it stems from his fears of an AI "event horizon") www.technologyreview.com/2025/05/05/1...

A woman made her AI voice clone say “arse.” Then she got banned. People with motor neuron disease should be allowed to say whatever they want, including “arse” and “knickers.”

When Joyce Esser, who has motor neuron disease, used her AI voice clone to tell her husband to "get his arse in gear," she was temporarily banned from using it.

Should tech companies be screening or limiting what people like Joyce can say? www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/14/1...

Thank you so much to Jules and Joyce, and to their partners Maria and Paul, for taking the time (and effort) to share their incredible stories.

Motor neuron diseases took their voices. AI is bringing them back. AI-generated voice clones are bringing back the voices of people with MND, allowing some to communicate, connect, and even perform comedy routines.

Motor neuron diseases can rob people of their voices. But AI is bringing them back. AI voice clones are helping people with MND communicate, and hear their old voices again.

www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/13/1...

Humanlike “teeth” have been grown in mini pigs The toothlike structures represent a step toward bioengineered replacements for dental implants, say researchers behind the work.

Humanlike "teeth" have been grown in mini pigs

Researchers mixed human and pig tooth cells and grew them in the lab, then implanted them into the jaws of living mini pigs. They formed little bioengineered teeth!

Goal is to make replacement teeth for ppl

www.technologyreview.com/2025/02/06/1...

Scientists! Health professionals! If you and/or important research/programs are being affected by executive orders, memos and directives being issued under the new administration, please get in touch.

You can reach me securely via Signal at jess_hamzelou.01

Inside the strange limbo facing millions of IVF embryos Frozen embryos are filling storage banks around the world. It's a struggle to know what to do with them.

In Italy, people are not allowed to destroy or donate their embryos. Any "leftover" frozen embryos are stuck in storage, ostensibly forever.

I learned so much about the fascinating and murky status of embryos for this piece. Thank you to all sources. www.technologyreview.com/2025/01/13/1...

And it varies by country. In the UK, embryos can be stored for 55 years, as long as ppl renew their consent every 10 years. In the US, many clinics don't like to destroy embryos - they worry about bad press or legal action if the intended parents change their minds about using those embryos.

Scientific advances have helped us improve how we freeze and thaw embryos, and IVF success rates. But sticky social, religious, and legal factors mean we often don't know what to do with "leftover" embryos.

Some see them as people. Some see them as property. Many think they're somewhere in between

Inside the strange limbo facing millions of IVF embryos Frozen embryos are filling storage banks around the world. It's a struggle to know what to do with them.

We're creating more IVF embryos than ever, and millions of them are ending up frozen in suspended animation for years or decades.

Some will be used to start pregnancies, or donated for research. But many of them will be stuck in limbo. Indefinitely.
www.technologyreview.com/2025/01/13/1...

How the US is preparing for a potential bird flu pandemic Five years on from the start of the covid pandemic, are we ready for a potential avian influenza outbreak?

... and a man has died. The US is stockpiling 10 million vaccines and developing new ones. But, given the virus's spread in farms, a national population of 340 mn, vaccine hesitancy, and global vaccine inequity, are we as prepared as we should be?

www.technologyreview.com/2025/01/10/1...

Bird flu presents a "high threat with indeterminate risk," according to a public health specialist I spoke to this week. Flu viruses have a pretty horrific track record when it comes to pandemics.

In the US, H5N1 is spreading through dairy cows, there have been 66 cases confirmed in people...

#ABSWawards

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@jesshamzelou.bsky.social

Digital twins of human organs are here. They’re set to transform medical treatment. The models can be used to plan surgeries and in the future could be used to help trial new drugs.

Engineers can make computer models of your organs, and some doctors are already using them to decide which bits of people's hearts to burn off in surgery(!)

Everything you wanted to know about digital twins (the health ones!) here: www.technologyreview.com/2024/12/19/1...

As seen in this interesting paper about the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 by @michelleoyen.bsky.social and her colleagues

Wow TIL this is what a mouse uterus looks like

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And that's pasteurized milk!

Americans, please don't drink raw milk.

“It’s surprising to me that we are totally fine with … our pasteurized milk products containing viral DNA,” virologist Seema Lakdawala told me. “We don’t know how much virus we need to ingest [to become infected], and whether any is going to slip through pasteurization.”

The risk of a bird flu pandemic is rising Human cases in the US are on the rise and the virus is turning up in cows and dairy products. Luckily, we have some vaccines ready to go if needed.

Bird flu is still spreading in the US. The virus is in 675 cattle herds (that we know of), and is showing up in dairy produce. There are 55 reported cases in people so far. And we still don't even know how the virus is spreading.

It's not looking great... www.technologyreview.com/2024/11/29/1...

Who should get a uterus transplant? Experts aren’t sure. Around 135 transplants have been performed, but it's probably too soon to offer the procedure to trans women.

It's ten years since the first birth following a uterus transplant. But since then, only around 135 transplants been performed. It's still a new procedure, and uteruses are a scarce resource. So who should get one? www.technologyreview.com/2024/11/22/1...

Inside Clear’s ambitions to manage your identity beyond the airport The company that has helped millions of people cut security lines wants to give you a frictionless future—in exchange for your face.

Fascinating piece by the brilliant @eileenguo.bsky.social about Clear, a company that is helping people in the US skip airport queues but wants to expand into other areas of daily life... in exchange for your face www.technologyreview.com/2024/11/20/1...