Half-Lobster Scientist Just Going To Hope Coworkers Don’t Notice He Had Mishap With CRISPR

BERKELEY, CA—Admitting he felt self-conscious following a workplace accident involving the highly experimental gene-editing technology, a local half-lobster scientist told reporters Friday he would just have to hope his coworkers didn’t notice his CRISPR mishap. “The main thing I need to do is make sure I don’t slip up and try to shake someone’s hand, because that would be a dead giveaway,” said University of California, Berkeley, microbiologist Steven Lipstadt, using his gigantic claws to put on a novelty sombrero he had purchased on his lunch break in order to hide the long antennae projecting outward from his head. “Luckily my lab coat covers up quite a bit of my tail, so as long as I stay behind my desk, no one should notice that. Maybe people will see my protruding crimson rostrum and think I just have a cold or something? Ugh. If anyone notices I look a little different today, I’ll tell them I got a haircut. I just hope nobody here has a shellfish allergy.” At press time, Lipstadt was reportedly worried the nighttime cleaning staff would discover the half-human lobster he had been forced to smother with a couch cushion and stuff into a trash can.