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The Download: open source insecurity, and gene editing plants
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. The US military wants to understand the most important software on Earth It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that the whole world is built on top of the Linux kernel—although most […]
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The creators of a new large language model called BLOOM want to democratize AI
The news: A volunteer in New Zealand has become the first person to undergo DNA editing in order to lower their blood cholesterol, a step that may foreshadow wide use of the technology to prevent heart attacks. How did they do it?: The experiment involved injecting a version of the gene-editing tool CRISPR in order […]
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These scientists want to capture more carbon with CRISPR crops
Larger, deeper root systems can help store more carbon in the soil, because if a plant dies and parts of it are deep underground, the carbon in those pieces is less likely to make its way back into the air quickly. Roots aren’t the only possible storage option, Ringeisen says. Modified plants could also be […]
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The creator of the CRISPR Babies has been released from a Chinese prison
He’s team from the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen made use of CRISPR, the versatile genetic engineering tool, to alter the girls’ DNA so that they would be resistant to infection by HIV. It’s unclear whether He has plans to return to scientific research in China or another country. People who know […]
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Conception: How Silicon Valley hatched a plan to turn blood into lab-made human eggs
A few years ago, a young man from California’s technology scene began popping up in the world’s leading developmental biology labs. These labs were deciphering the secrets of embryos and had a particular interest in how eggs are formed. Some thought if they discovered that recipe, they would be able to copy it and transmute […]