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Science Weekly

Science Weekly

By: The Guardian
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 Twice a week, the Guardian brings you the latest science and environment news© 2025 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Science
Episodes
  • The extraordinary promise of gene editing

    The extraordinary promise of gene editing
    May 22 2025
    Doctors in the US have become the first to treat a baby with a customised gene-editing therapy after diagnosing the child with a severe genetic disorder that kills about half of those affected in early infancy. Ian Sample explains to Madeleine Finlay how this new therapy works and how it paves the way for even more complex gene editing techniques. David Liu, a professor at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the inventor of these therapies, also describes the barriers that could prevent them reaching patients, and how he thinks they can be overcome. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    17 mins
  • The latest twist in a Canadian medical mystery

    The latest twist in a Canadian medical mystery
    May 20 2025
    In March 2021, the Toronto-based reporter Leyland Cecco heard about a memo sent by New Brunswick health officials that warned about a possible unknown neurological syndrome thought to be affecting about 40 people. Since then the story has taken many twists and turns, most recently with a peer-reviewed study that concludes there is no mystery illness after all. Cecco tells Madeleine Finlay about the devastating symptoms that patients experienced, and why the research is unlikely to resolve the conflict over what has been causing them. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    19 mins
  • Is it time to try geoengineering?

    Is it time to try geoengineering?
    May 15 2025
    Geoengineering, the controversial set of techniques that aim to deliberately alter the Earth’s climate system, may be inching a step closer to reality with the announcement that UK scientists will be conducting real-world experiments in the coming years. To understand what’s happening, Ian Sample is joined by the Guardian environment editor Damian Carrington. Damian explains what the experiments will entail and why scientists are so divided on whether pursuing this research is a good idea. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod
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    14 mins

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