Technology

This baby boy was treated with the first personalized gene-editing drug

May 15, 2025
Doctors say they constructed a bespoke gene-editing treatment in less than seven months and used it to treat a baby with a deadly metabolic condition. The rapid-fire attempt to rewrite the child’s DNA marks the first time gene editing has been tailored to treat a single individual, according to a report published in the New…

The Download: Montana’s experimental treatments, and Google DeepMind’s new AI agent

May 15, 2025
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 first US hub for experimental medical treatments is coming The news: A bill that allows clinics to sell unproven treatments has been passed in Montana. Under the legislation, doctors can apply for…

How US research cuts are threatening crucial climate data

May 15, 2025
Over the last few months, and especially the last few weeks, there’s been an explosion of news about proposed budget cuts to science in the US. One trend I’ve noticed: Researchers and civil servants are sounding the alarm that those cuts mean we might lose key data that helps us understand our world and how…

Google DeepMind’s new AI uses large language models to crack real-world problems

May 14, 2025
Google DeepMind has once again used large language models to discover new solutions to long-standing problems in math and computer science. This time the firm has shown that its approach can not only tackle unsolved theoretical puzzles, but improve a range of important real-world processes as well. Google DeepMind’s new tool, called AlphaEvolve, uses the…

The first US hub for experimental medical treatments is coming

May 14, 2025
A bill that allows medical clinics to sell unproven treatments has been passed in Montana.  Under the legislation, doctors can apply for a license to open an experimental treatment clinic and recommend and sell therapies not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to their patients. Once it’s signed by the governor, the law…

The Download: taking the temperature of snow, and the future of privacy

May 14, 2025
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. Why climate researchers are taking the temperature of mountain snow The Sierra’s frozen reservoir provides about a third of California’s water and most of what comes out of the faucets, shower heads, and…

Why climate researchers are taking the temperature of mountain snow

May 14, 2025
On a crisp morning in early April, Dan McEvoy and Bjoern Bingham cut clean lines down a wide run at the Heavenly Ski Resort in South Lake Tahoe, then ducked under a rope line cordoning off a patch of untouched snow.  They side-stepped up a small incline, poled past a row of Jeffrey pines, then…

The Download: CRISPR in court, and the police’s ban-skirting AI

May 13, 2025
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. A US court just put ownership of CRISPR back in play The CRISPR patents are back in play. Yesterday, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said scientists Jennifer Doudna and…

Police tech can sidestep facial recognition bans now

May 13, 2025
Six months ago I attended the largest gathering of chiefs of police in the US to see how they’re using AI. I found some big developments, like officers getting AI to write their police reports. Today, I published a new story that shows just how far AI for police has developed since then.  It’s about…

A US court just put ownership of CRISPR back in play

May 13, 2025
The CRISPR patents are back in play. On Monday, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said scientists Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier will get another chance to show they ought to own the key patents on what many consider the defining biotechnology invention of the 21st century. The pair shared a 2020…