GoKawiilThe gene-therapy trial aims to treat glaucoma by rejuvenating cells in the optic nerve. Plus, the mystery of how things freeze and encouragement to go out into the sunlight.
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Scientists are attempting to rejuvenate cells in the optic nerve (nerve fibres in red), which channels information from the retina to the brain.Credit: Thomas Deerinck, NCMIR/Science Photo Library
The first person has been treated in a highly anticipated gene-therapy trial that aims to coax aged cells to take on a younger identity. The trial will assess the safety of ‘partial reprogramming’, a novel approach that involves turning on certain genes to enable old cells to behave as if they were young again. Researchers will activate three genes to test whether the approach can rejuvenate cells in the optic nerve as a treatment for a form of glaucoma, an eye disease that can cause blindness.
Nature | 5 min read
Private fusion company Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) has published five papers that it says “confirm” that, if built as intended, its ARC power plant will produce more electricity than it consumes. But some researchers say that the claim might be premature. Results from an operational fusion reactor are needed to validate CFS’s predictions, and the company hasn’t demonstrated that they can generate tritium, a scarce isotope fuel that the reactor will need to run, experts say.
Nature | 7 min read
Reference: Journal of Plasma Physics paper collection
“It is time for Europe to be in control of its data, of its supply chains and of its future,” said the European Commission’s Henna Virkkunen in a statement that accompanied the announcement of the European Technological Sovereignty Package. The plan expands on efforts by several countries and research institutions on the continent to move away from systems and services controlled by non-European countries — particularly the United States — because of concerns about data privacy and a decline in academic freedom.
Nature | 6 min read
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