Why researchers need to tinker with viruses

Meet the people who warn the world about new covid variants 

Sponsored by Morgan Stanley The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology Modifying viruses 07.26.21 Good morning! Today: a top expert explains the purpose of gain-of-function research on viruses, and meet the tiny team of young researchers who warn the world about new covid variants. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. Why researchers need to tinker with viruses   In May, the coronavirus researcher Ralph Baric found himself at the center of the debate over gain-of-function research, in which scientists engineer new properties into existing viruses. And during a congressional hearing, Senator Rand Paul implied that the National Institutes of Health had been funding such research at both the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Baric’s University of North Carolina lab, and that the two labs had been collaborating to make “superviruses.”  Baric released a statement clarifying the research in question did not qualify as gain-of-function, and none of the SARS-like coronaviruses he’d used in the experiments were closely related to SARS-CoV-2, yet that did little to quell questions about the role his research may have played in furthering scientists’ ability to modify coronaviruses in potentially dangerous ways. Baric believes such research is essential to the development of vaccines and other countermeasures against emerging viruses, a project he has been engaged in for more than 20 years. His research laid the groundwork for the first approved anti-covid drug and helped speed the development of the mRNA vaccines that have proved so pivotal.  MIT Technology Review recently asked Baric to explain what constitutes a gain-of-function experiment, why such research exists, and whether it could have played any role in the pandemic. Read the full interview. —Rowan Jacobsen This story is for subscribers only. If you want access to it, and all of our other award-winning journalism, please do consider becoming a subscriber. Prices start at just $50 a year for digital access. Meet the people who warn the world about new covid variants In March, when covid cases began spiking around India, Bani Jolly went hunting for answers in the virus’s genetic code. Jolly, a third-year PhD student at the CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in New Delhi, studied sequences of samples taken from around India. As she did, she found a cluster that didn’t look quite like any known variant.  She went to the place where a small group of scientists give new variants their names: a system called Pango, which has quietly become essential to global covid research. It’s staffed by a handful of volunteers around the world, led primarily by a PhD student in Scotland, and its software tools and naming system have now helped scientists worldwide understand and classify nearly 2.5 million samples of the virus.  The Pango team quickly came up with a new name for the variant Jolly had identified: B.1.167, also known as “delta.” Researchers, public health officers, and journalists around the world use Pango to understand covid’s evolution. But few realize that the entire endeavor—like much in the new field of covid genomics—is powered by a tiny team of young researchers who have often put their own work on hold to build it. Read the full story. —Cat Ferguson We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)     + The Dune trailer has me seriously excited for the movie's release in October…    + I love these girls! Their dancing videos are pure joy. This one's to Bug-A-Boo.   + This footage from the G7 drinks reception in London in July 1991 is astonishing. Margaret Thatcher, the Queen, Princess Diana, François Mitterrand and Edward Heath all feature.   + Very cool visual story explaining why the world's best climber may struggle to win a medal in Tokyo. (NYT $)   + The story behind Liberia's eye-catching Olympics garb. (NYT $)   + You only need three ingredients to make these blueberry muffins. (WP $)    + And for these brownies? Just two.    + A 13-year-old girl won the first ever Olympic gold medal in women's street skateboarding today. Sponsor Message Central Bank Digital Currencies: The Next Big Disruption? Central Bank Digital Currencies, often called CBDCs, are a new form of digital cash intended to replace physical cash. Efforts to introduce CBDCs are gaining momentum, with as many as 86% of the world’s central banks exploring their own digital currencies. China has already piloted trials of CBDCs, the European Central Bank is expected to decide on a digital euro this summer, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston is set to release its findings in the fall. But what level of disruption will it bring to the financial system? Learn more. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 A Japanese company is testing a pill for covid-19 💊 The once-a-day drug is designed to neutralize the coronavirus in less than a week. (WSJ $)   + Fauci says the US is "going in the wrong direction" as much of the country remains unvaccinated. (CNN)   + The Delta variant could be bad news for the US economy. (New Yorker $)   + Why you should put your mask back on, especially indoors around strangers. (The Atlantic $)   + France is going to require vaccine passports for certain activities, like dining out. (AP)   + UK covid case numbers have dropped for the fifth day in a row. (Evening Standard)   + Children are dying as the virus surges in Indonesia. (NYT $)  2 This man couldn't get over his fiancée's death. So he turned her into a chatbot. Is this good for you? Possibly not. Is it completely understandable? Yes. (SF Chronicle)   3 We just got our best-ever look at the inside of Mars And it's more complex than previously thought. (TR)   4 Facebook and religion: a match made in heaven? ⛪ So long as everyone's making plenty of money, it seems. (NYT $)   5 US Uber and Lyft drivers are being hit by a wave of carjackings They have a load of stress to contend with day-to-day anyway, and now this. (The Markup)   + Cases are on the rise in Amazon warehouses in the US. (NBC)  6 These YouTubers blew the whistle on an anti-vax plot I suspect we're just seeing a tiny slice of the disinformation-for-hire industry here. (BBC)   7 A study found virtual contact was worse than no contact at all for the over 60s The evidence keeps mounting that humans really need to spend time together in person. (The Guardian)   8 Some towns are trying to lure remote workers with cash 💰 It's not working. (The Atlantic $)   9 Why jelly is back in fashion You can partly thank ASMR, apparently. (Wired UK)   10 The day the good internet died RIP Google Reader. (The Ringer) Join us at EmTech MIT, our flagship event on emerging technology and trends.  Immerse yourself in bold thinking and visionary innovation on the most significant technologies and global trends that will propel business and shape our world. Register now. Quote of the day "I don’t know who needs to hear this, but billionaires jetting off to space while the planet burns isn’t a sign of progress. It’s a sign of decline." —Economist and former US Labor Secretary Robert Reich tweets his view of the recent trips by Bezos and Branson. Top image credit: MEGAN MAY | UNC RESEARCH Please send blueberry muffins to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up today Understand the promise of technology. Make MIT Technology Review your go-to resource for thought-provoking insights, analysis, and news about the world of technology. Get unlimited access when you subscribe today. Subscribe now

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