This issue features a Special Technology Report looking in depth at the latest developments in the world of Printing and Labelling solutions.

Also included is a ‘Cover Story’: Gartner explains that by 2026, 30% of enterprises will automate more than half of their network activities, an increase from under 10% in mid-2023.

American University's School of Communication (SOC) announced today that seasoned student journalist Gabe Castro-Root was selected to join an expedition to Antarctica where he will be reporting on the expedition.

BGS completes first mapping expedition to Ascension Island  British Geological Survey

Trailblazing seismologist named new editor-in-chief of GJI  The Royal Astronomical Society

Chinese fast-fashion retailer Shein has introduced its first...

Patrick Doherty volunteered for a new medical intervention of gene-editor infusions for the treatment of genetically-based diseases.; Credit: /Patrick Doherty

Patrick Doherty had always been very active. He trekked the Himalayas and hiked trails in Spain.

But about a year and a half ago, he noticed pins and needles in his fingers and toes. His feet got cold. And then he started getting out of breath any time he walked his dog up the hills of County Donegal in Ireland where he lives.

"I noticed on some of the larger hill climbs I was getting a bit breathless," says Doherty, 65. "So I realized something was wrong."

Doherty found out he had a rare, but devastating inherited disease — known as transthyretin amyloidosis — that had killed his father. A misshapen protein was building up in his body, destroying important tissues, such as nerves in his hands and feet and his heart.

Doherty had watched others get crippled and die difficult deaths from amyloidosis.

"It's terrible prognosis," Doherty says. "This is a condition that deteriorates very rapidly. It's just dreadful."

So Doherty was thrilled when he found out that doctors were testing a new way to try to treat amyloidosis. The approach used a revolutionary gene-editing technique called CRISPR, which allows scientists to make very precise changes in DNA.

"I thought: Fantastic. I jumped at the opportunity," Doherty says.

On Saturday, researchers reported the first data indicating that the experimental treatment worked, causing levels of the destructive protein to plummet in Doherty's body and the bodies of five other patients treated with the approach.

"I feel fantastic," Doherty says. "It's just phenomenal."

The advance is being hailed not just for amyloidosis patients but also as a proof-of-concept that CRISPR could be used to treat many other, much more common diseases. It's a new way of using the innovative technology.

"This is a major milestone for patients," says Jennifer Doudna of the University of California, Berkeley, who shared a Nobel Prize for her work helping develop CRISPR.

"While these are early data, they show us that we can overcome one of the biggest challenges with applying CRISPR clinically so far, which is being able to deliver it systemically and get it to the right place," Doudna says.

CRISPR has already been shown to help patients suffering from the devastating blood disorders sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia. And doctors are trying to use it to treat cancer and to restore vision to people blinded by a rare genetic disorder.

But those experiments involve taking cells out of the body, editing them in the lab, and infusing them back in or injecting CRISPR directly into cells that need fixing.

The study Doherty volunteered for is the first in which doctors are simply infusing the gene-editor directly into patients and letting it find its own way to the right gene in the right cells. In this case, it's cells in the liver making the destructive protein.

"This is the first example in which CRISPR-Cas9 is injected directly into the bloodstream — in other words systemic administration — where we use it as a way to reach a tissue that's far away from the site of injection and very specifically use it to edit disease-causing genes," says John Leonard, the CEO of Intellia Therapeutics, which is sponsoring the study.

Doctors infused billions of microscopic structures known as nanoparticles carrying genetic instructions for the CRISPR gene-editor into four patients in London and two in New Zealand. The nanoparticles were absorbed by their livers, where they unleashed armies of CRISPR gene-editors. The CRISPR editor honed in on the target gene in the liver and sliced it, disabling production of the destructive protein.

Within weeks, the levels of protein causing the disease plummeted. Researchers reported at the Peripheral Nerve Society Annual Meeting and in a paper published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

"It really is exciting," says Dr. Julian Gillmore, who is leading the study at the University College London, Royal Free Hospital.

"This has the potential to completely revolutionize the outcome for these patients who have lived with this disease in their family for many generations. It's decimated some families that I've been looking after. So this is amazing," Gillmore says.

The patients will have to be followed longer, and more patients will have to be treated, to make sure the treatment's safe, and determine how much it's helping, Gillmore stresses. But the approach could help those struck by amyloidosis that isn't inherited, which is a far more common version of the disease, he says.

Moreover, the promising results potentially open the door for using the same approach to treatment of many other, more common diseases for which taking cells out of the body or directly injecting CRISPR isn't realistic, including heart disease, muscular dystrophy and brain diseases such as Alzheimer's.

"This is really opening a new era as we think about gene-editing where we can begin to think about accessing all kinds of different tissue in the body via systemic administration," Leonard says.

Other scientists who are not involved in the research agree.

"This is a wonderful day for the future of gene-editing as a medicine,"
agree Fyodor Urnov, a professor of genetics at the University of California, Berkeley. "We as a species are watching this remarkable new show called: our gene-edited future."

Doherty says he started feeling better within weeks of the treatment and has continued to improve in the weeks since then.

"I definitely feel better," he told NPR. "I'm speaking to you from upstairs in our house. I climbed stairs to get up here. I would have been feeling breathless. I'm thrilled."

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Catawba County Public Health has earned reaccreditation from the North Carolina Local Health Department Accreditation Board.

The National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine are launching a major initiative to guide decision making about controversial new research involving human gene editing.

Scientific advances in molecular biology over the past 50 years have produced remarkable progress in medicine. Some of these advances have also raised important ethical and societal issues – for example, about the use of recombinant DNA technologies or embryonic stem cells.

We thank the organizers of our International Summit on Human Gene Editing for their thoughtful concluding statement and welcome their call for us to continue to lead a global discussion on issues related to human gene editing.

Clinical trials for genome editing of the human germline – adding, removing, or replacing DNA base pairs in gametes or early embryos – could be permitted in the future, but only for serious conditions under stringent oversight, says a new report from the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.

An international, multidisciplinary organizing committee has been appointed to plan the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing, which will take place Nov. 27-29 in Hong Kong.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) announces the appointment of May R. Berenbaum as Editor-in-Chief of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the official journal of the Academy. Berenbaum will begin the editorship on January 1, 2019.

On the eve of the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing, we were informed of the birth of twins in China whose embryonic genomes had been edited.

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, welcomed hundreds of participants from around the world to the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing, which began today.

In December 2015, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and U.S. National Academy of Medicine, the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences hosted an international summit in Washington, D.C., to discuss scientific, ethical, and governance issues associated with human genome editing.

We thank the organizing committee of the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing, held this week in Hong Kong, for planning an important and timely conference on a rapidly advancing area of science and medicine.

A new publication from the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, provides a brief summary of presentations and discussions at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing, held in Hong Kong on Nov. 27-29, 2018.

A commentary published in Nature calls for a moratorium on clinical uses of heritable human genome editing and the establishment of an international governance framework.

An international commission has been convened by the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the Royal Society of the U.K., with the participation of science and medical academies around the world, to develop a framework for scientists, clinicians, and regulatory authorities to consider when assessing potential clinical applications of human germline genome editing.

Last week, the International Commission on the Clinical Use of Human Germline Genome Editing held its first public meeting at the National Academy of Sciences building in Washington, D.C.

The International Commission on the Clinical Use of Human Germline Genome Editing is tasked with identifying the scientific, medical, and ethical requirements to consider when assessing potential clinical applications of human germline genome editing — if society concludes that heritable human genome editing applications are acceptable.

We recently launched a new website intended to highlight the science underlying questions that our research shows Americans have about current issues.

It has been a little over a year since the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong, where scientist He Jiankui (pictured above) announced the birth of twins whose healthy embryonic genomes had been edited to confer resistance to HIV.

Human embryos whose genomes have been edited should not be used to create a pregnancy until it is established that precise genomic changes can be made reliably without introducing undesired changes — a criterion that has not yet been met by any genome editing technology, says a new report by an international commission of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the U.K.’s Royal Society.

Two new companion reports from a World Health Organization expert panel provide recommendations to the scientific community on the use of human genome editing. The panel’s work was informed by a 2020 report written by an international commission under the auspices of NAS, NAM, and the U.K.’s Royal Society.

A multidisciplinary committee representing 11 nations will plan the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing, to be held in London March 7-9, 2022. The NAS and NAM join other international partners in organizing the summit, which will build upon previous events held in Washington, D.C. and Hong Kong.

Registration is now open for the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing, to be held March 6-8, 2023, in London. The three-day summit is being organized by the Royal Society and U.K. Academy of Medical Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine, and the World Academy of Sciences.

The final agenda is now available for the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing, to be held March 6-8 in London and virtually. The National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine are among the international partners hosting the summit.

Election interference, American Water and the Internet Archive breaches, new cybersecurity laws, and more – October saw no shortage of impactful cybersecurity news stories

During this year’s festive season sales, credit cards and credit-based payment instruments like pay-later products saw a significant increase, according to industry reports. Transactions rose by 35-50% compared to last year, with a large share being made through credit cards, EMIs, and pay-later options. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) remained the dominant payment method, with a 34% rise in transactions and over 500 million daily payments recorded.

Circle K partners with Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures to bring Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire to life.

The Kroger Co. has announced the launch of Harvest Apple, a new limited edition Private Selection line of products spicing up fall with a fresh new twist.

Cotton Blues Cheesecakes recently released its Sweet Potato flavor nationwide for everyone to enjoy via Goldbelly for $65.

To recycle, consumers simply insert or reattach the twist tie to a bread bag that is qualified for store drop-off before placing it in the bin.

With snacking up during the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing the amount of salt in snacks is an on-trend task for snack companies.

Back by popular demand, Sandwi-chips, crafted with Herr’s flavor expertise, feature bold condiment flavors and a hearty crunch that aims to complement sandwiches.

The chip will make its theatrical movie debut in The Garfield Movie in May, and is celebrating with a limited-edition Garfield-themed bag, a larger-than-life mural, and more.

Ernie and the Elves are bringing magic to holiday traditions with the launch of Elf Limited-Edition Keebler Gingerbread Fudge Stripes and new Keebler Pretzel Pie Crusts.

Cranberry Walnut Loaf and Savory Holiday Rolls hit store shelves nationwide.

Tastykake, a Flowers Foods brand, is offering limited edition Lemon and Strawberry Kandy Kakes until May 21.

The limited-edition edible is Dr. Norm’s take on one of America’s most popular snacking obsessions.

Taking place in Rosemont, IL, the event will also stream select sessions online.

The limited-edition muffins are made with real apples and no high fructose corn syrup or trans fat.

Upcoming film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse themed packaging will be on select Tastykake items in conjunction with a National “Swing into Tastykake” Sweepstakes.

The muffins are available now through October, and each pouch is 200 calories.

The bakery snacks come in multi-packs of single-serve pouches for portable convenience.