On a Tuesday morning in Boise, biologist Greg Hampikian is on speakerphone with Christopher Tapp, an inmate at the Idaho State Correctional Institution. Tapp is in prison for a murder he swears he did not commit. Many others think he’s innocent as well—lawyers, journalists, an organization of former judges; even the victim’s mother. No one has fought for him longer than Hampikian, a researcher at Boise State University (BSU). “How’re you doing, Chris?” Hampikian begins. “I’m having a good time at summer camp,” Tapp says gamely. “Although you know me … I’m in the hole again”—solitary. “There was a mutual misunderstanding between me and someone else.” He mentions that he and his wife are getting divorced.
“I’m really sorry Chris, that’s a lot to deal with,” Hampikian says. “You know my offer still stands. I’ll pay tuition for any courses you want to take.” A pause. “You know we got a decision from the court to move forward with a new DNA test. But the court is only allowing us a limited amount and we have to decide which test is...
By Harold Brubaker, The Philadelphia Inquirer | 04.04.2024
Aggregated News
Acompany started by University of Pennsylvania scientist Jim Wilson has received FDA approval to test a form of gene editing in infants for the first time in the United States, the company said Thursday.
A Mexican standoff with the United States turned into a Mexican smack-down this month with the release of Mexico’s formal rebuttal to US efforts to overturn limits Mexico has ordered on the use of genetically modified (GM) corn and the...
The U.S. government must move “quickly and decisively” to avert substantial national security risks stemming from artificial intelligence (AI) which could, in the worst case, cause an “extinction-level threat to the human species,” says a report commissioned by the U.S...
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