A More Elegant Form of Gene Editing Progresses to Human Testing | Shoplifting has become such a pain in Spain that supermarkets are locking up their olive oil supplies—and it's working | Brazil records its hottest ever temperature | Best Places To Retire In 2023: Pittsburgh And Other Affordable Hot Spots

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� � � � � � A More Elegant Form of Gene Editing Progresses to Human Testing - WIRED    Scientists immediately recognized the value of base editing. Many inherited diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia, are caused by single-base changes in DNA. Now those mutations could, in theory, be fixed by converting one base for another. Qasim and his team wanted to use base editing for another purpose: altering immune cells in an attempt to treat cancer. The patient, a 13-year-old named Alyssa, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive type of cancer called T-cell leukemia in May 2021. An important part of the immune system, T cells normally protect the body from infection. But in T-cell leukemia, they grow uncontrollably. Doctors tried to treat Alyssa with chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, but her cancer came back. With no other treatment options left, Alyssa was eligible for a trial testing the experimental base editing therapy. Qasim and his team collected T cells from a healthy donor and used base editing to make four separate changes—all C to T base conversions—to the cells. The edits allowed the donor T cells to slip past the body’s defenses, recognize a certain receptor on leukemia cells, and kill the cancer. Doctors at Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, part of University College London, then infused the edited cells into Alyssa’s bloodstream. After receiving the edited cells, Alyssa experienced an inflammatory side effect known as cytokine release syndrome, a common side effect with cancer immunotherapy. In some patients, it can be life-threatening, but Alyssa’s symptoms were mild and she recovered quickly, Qasim says. A month after her infusion, her cancer was in remission, and she continues to do well. “We’ve confirmed the disease levels are still undetectable,” Qasim says. He presented these preliminary results earlier this month at the American Society of Hematology meeting in New Orleans. (The findings have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.)  Continued here � � � � � � Don't like ads? Go ad-free with TradeBriefs Premium Shoplifting has become such a pain in Spain that supermarkets are locking up their olive oil supplies—and it's working - Fortune Europe    Retail theft has become rampant across Europe in recent times—and thieves in Spain have been targeting liquid gold. The crisis has forced supermarkets to put their olive oil supplies under lock and key just to prevent it from being stolen.  “We are seeing a major surge in shoplifting,” Ruben Navarro, CEO of Spanish supermarket chain Tu Super, which has over two dozen stores in Spain, told Reuters. “Olive oil has become an ideal product for them to steal.” Continued here � � � � � � Brazil records its hottest ever temperature - BBC News    Brazil has recorded its hottest ever temperature - 44.8C (112.6F) - as parts of the country endure a stifling heatwave. The record was hit on Sunday in the town of Araçuaí, in Brazil's south-eastern state of Minas Gerais. The unprecedented weather has been attributed to the El Niño phenomenon and climate change. Continued here � � � � � � Best Places To Retire In 2023: Pittsburgh And Other Affordable Hot Spots - Forbes    Jackie and Carmine Frasca Jr., wanted to retire early, but the high cost of living in California, where they’d spent more than two decades, made that a challenge. So they sold their home in Palmdale, a distant northeast suburb of Los Angeles, for more than $500,000, and this year bought a newly constructed house for about a quarter less than that amount in an age-restricted, gated community on the edge of San Antonio, Texas. While they might have paid cash for their new pad with their California proceeds, they instead took advantage of builder financing to free up funds to travel and enjoy life. Even with that small mortgage, “we’re still ahead of the game,” Jackie reports. After all, they relocated to an area with a 30% lower cost of living than Palmdale and no state income tax. East Coast natives married for 39 years, Jackie, 62, was a hospital dietary supervisor and Carmine, 60, a letter-carrier, before they decided to leave the workforce. Now, they both spend lots of time outdoors (she bikes, he golfs) and appreciate San Antonio’s better-than-L.A. air quality. True, their 35-year-old daughter still lives in southern California. But the couple likes flying, Jackie says, and are now only 30 minutes from an international airport, compared to the two hours they had to allow to get to the airport in the L.A. area’s notorious traffic. While not everyone is keen to move 1,300 miles for retirement or board a plane to see their offspring, the Frascases do represent a significant trend. Those who move between age 60 and 69 are more likely than other age groups to move outside their county or state. And 60% of these aging distance jumpers end up in cheaper housing markets, unlocking an average of $140,000 in equity that can be used to cushion their retirements, according to a new analysis of census and other data by Vanguard economists. Continued here

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