GoKawiil
Tech News
A startup backed by defense technology company Anduril is pursuing genetic engineering techniques to breed military working dogs with enhanced speed and smell. The goal is to produce animals better suited for battlefield tasks than currently available breeds.
Warhound, backed by Colossal Biosciences' Ben Lamm and Anduril's Palmer Luckey, has raised $200 million to genetically edit and clone top-performing military, police and first-responder dogs, mostly Belgian Malinois. Lamm says the startup has begun editing genes from donor dog cell samples, initially targeting breed-specific health issues like hip dysplasia and cancer, with plans to later enhance traits like speed and smell. Anduril will supply protective gear such as vests and goggles rather than cybernetic enhancements, while Colossal holds equity and Lamm sits on Warhound's board.
The Trump administration has proposed giving political appointees greater authority over how federal scientific grants are awarded, according to the report. The move would shift some decision-making power away from independent peer-review scientists toward political oversight within federal agencies.
Scientists are developing gene-edited pig organs as a potential solution to the chronic shortage of human transplant organs. Researchers involved say the work could fundamentally change how transplantation is practiced if organ scarcity is eliminated.
Stanford scientists genetically engineered mice lacking a functioning cortex, then implanted human neurons derived from reprogrammed skin cells into the empty space. The transplanted cells multiplied from a few hundred to several million and wired themselves into the mouse brain, with the animals behaving largely normally despite the human tissue making up nearly half their brain volume by some measures. The findings were published in Nature.
Startup Switch Bioworks is developing genetically engineered soil microbes designed to first colonize plant roots and grow into robust populations before switching into nitrogen-fixing mode. The approach aims to solve a longstanding problem in biological fertilizers: microbes that spend too much energy converting atmospheric nitrogen into usable ammonia often fail to establish themselves around crop roots. Founder Tim Schnabel says the company is testing this genetic switch technology in early cornfield trials.