The newsletter also covers China's efforts to win the gene therapy race, with Chinese scientists using gene therapy to restore hearing in children who were born deaf. During the trial, five young patients received injections of a virus that added replacement DNA to the hair cells in their inner ear, with four of them developing the ability to hear. The Chinese government is expected to provide generous subsidies to support this area of gene therapy.
Key takeaways:
- The hardest problems in tech that society should focus on include the climate crisis, global health, creating a just and equitable society, and AI, according to scientists, journalists, politicians, entrepreneurs, activists, and CEOs.
- A biotech company is making progress in leveraging patients’ own immune systems to destroy cancerous cells in solid tumors using engineered T cells.
- Chinese scientists have used gene therapy to restore hearing ability in children who were born deaf, with four out of five patients developing the ability to hear after the treatment.
- The city of South Bend, Indiana, is planning to make its aging sewers smarter to prevent the overflow of toxic sludge into rivers and lakes during heavy rains or snow melts.