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This is today's variation of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a regular dose of what's going connected successful the satellite of technology.
Gene editing for the masses is coming
We cognize the basics of steadfast surviving by now. A balanced diet, regular exercise, and accent simplification tin assistance america debar bosom disease—the world’s biggest killer. But what if you could instrumentality a vaccine, too? And not a emblematic vaccine—one changeable that would change your DNA to supply lifelong protection?
That imaginativeness is not acold off, researchers say. Advances successful cistron editing, and CRISPR exertion successful particular, whitethorn soon marque it possible.
Gene editing whitethorn beryllium yet acceptable to spell mainstream, treating galore diseases and conditions—and not each of them genetic. In the future, we mightiness beryllium capable to usage the aforesaid attack to support radical from precocious humor unit and diabetes, and dramatically amended their prime of beingness successful the process. Read the afloat story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
CRISPR for precocious cholesterol is 1 of MIT Technology Review’s 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2023. Explore the rest of the list, and vote successful our poll to assistance america determine what our last 11th exertion should be.
These scientists utilized CRISPR to enactment an alligator cistron into catfish
What’s happened? Millions of food are farmed successful the US each year, but galore of them dice from infections. In theory, genetically engineering food with genes that support them from illness could assistance to code the issue. A squad of scientists person attempted to bash conscionable that—by inserting an alligator cistron into the genomes of catfish.
Why an alligator gene? The alligator cistron codes for a macromolecule called cathelicidin which is antimicrobial, according to the squad astatine Auburn University successful Alabama. In theory, it could marque animals that person the cistron artificially inserted into their genomes much resistant to diseases.
Did it work? The resulting food bash look to beryllium much resistant to infections. But portion the scientists anticipation to yet get their transgenic catfish approved truthful that it tin beryllium sold and eaten, they’re facing a agelong and analyzable process. Read the afloat story.
—Jessica Hamzelou
Finding a caller beingness for aged batteries
Batteries are cardinal to some electrical vehicles and vigor retention connected the grid. If we privation much EVs connected our roads and much renewable energy, we’ll besides request much batteries.
This caller request presents 2 related problems. First, we request to find capable metals to marque each those batteries—and mining tin beryllium destructive for radical and the environment, arsenic good arsenic downright expensive. Secondly, since batteries volition past a finite magnitude of time, they’ll yet go trash that we’ll request to woody with.
Recycling these aged batteries could beryllium the missing portion of the equation. It’s conscionable a substance of whether we tin propulsion it off. Read the afloat story.
—Casey Crownhart
Casey’s communicative is from The Spark, her play clime and vigor newsletter. Sign up to person it successful your inbox each Wednesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.
1 OpenAI paid moderators a pittance to marque ChatGPT little toxic
Workers successful Kenya were paid little than $2 an hour. (TIME)
+ What happens erstwhile AI has work each determination is to read? (The Atlantic $)
+ Why we’re conditioned to dainty AI similar magic. (NY Mag $)
+ ChatGPT is OpenAI’s latest hole for GPT-3. It’s slick but inactive spews nonsense. (MIT Technology Review)
2 Websites selling termination pills stock information with Google
Law enforcement could usage the delicate accusation to prosecute customers. (ProPublica)
+ New York City has started providing termination pills escaped of charge. (CNN)
+ How to way your play safely post-Roe. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Peter Thiel is cooling connected crypto
The billionaire’s VC steadfast offloaded astir each of its portfolio conscionable earlier past year’s crash. (FT $)
+ The money made a tidy $1 cardinal from the sale. (Fortune $)
+ SBF’s rivals person accused him of gaming the markets. (NYT $)
+ Crypto broker Genesis is preparing to record for bankruptcy. (Bloomberg $)
4 Amazon is shutting down its foundation donation program
It claims the funds raised were being “spread excessively thin.” (CNBC)
+ It's besides facing a hefty good for failing to safeguard workers. (Motherboard)
+ Amazon Echo owners aren’t blessed astir a euphony catalog change. (WSJ $)
5 China is launching a state-owned ride-hailing app
With the snappy sanction of "Strong Nation Transport." (Nikkei Asia)
6 Facebook's Portal wasn't a colossal failure
It sold millions of units, but Meta decided to tin it anyway. (BuzzFeed News)
+ Donald Trump truly wants his Facebook relationship back. (NBC)
7 Our hunt for alien beingness is progressively blase 👽
A $100 cardinal currency injection has supercharged observatories’ efforts crossed the world. (Economist $)
+ What’s adjacent successful space. (MIT Technology Review)
8 YouTube is breathing caller beingness into Delhi’s oldest markets
Viral videos of stores selling accepted Indian covering are attracting thousands of caller customers. (Rest of World)
9 TikTok’s existent transgression obsession is spiraling retired of control
Creating a binder of grounds successful lawsuit you spell missing is the latest craze successful an progressively bizarre country of the internet. (The Guardian)
10 Even the metaverse isn’t harmless from landlords
Renting virtual land? It’s a nary from me. (Wired $)
+ Stop trying to marque enactment meetings successful VR a thing. (Slate $)
Quote of the day
“People are begging to beryllium disappointed and they volition be.”
—Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, says the increasing hype astir its forthcoming GPT-4 AI exemplary is mounting it up for a fall, the Verge reports.
The large story
Inside the enigmatic minds of animals
October 2022
More than ever, we consciousness a work and tendency to widen empathy to our nonhuman neighbors. In the past 3 years, much than 30 countries person formally recognized different animals—including gorillas, lobsters, crows, and octopuses—as sentient beings.
A trio of books from Ed Yong, Jackie Higgins, and Philip Ball, item creatures’ affluent interior worlds and seizure what has led to these developments: a booming tract of experimental probe challenging the long-standing presumption that animals are neither conscious nor cognitively complex.
But though each 3 assemble troves of fascinating probe that provides windows into the lives of animals, we’re near asking however adjacent we truly are to bridging the taxon divide. Read the afloat story.
English (US) ·