Synthetic biologists have created a slow-growing version of the coronavirus to give as a vaccine

The Download

Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology

09.16.20

Good morning! Today: could a weakened version of the coronavirus work as a vaccine? And: a call for the US to launch a national innovation mission to combat climate change. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day.

The news: Synthetic biology has led to a way to create a weakened form of the coronavirus that causes covid-19. Although the idea remains a long-shot in the vaccine race, an attenuated coronavirus could be formulated into inexpensive nose drops for use around the world. Plans are for the first volunteers to sniff up the synthetically designed virus starting in November, in initial human safety tests in the UK.

What's the difference? The most advanced covid vaccine candidates expose a person to only one part of the virus, the crown-shaped “spike” that gives it its name, in order to generate antibodies. The potential advantage of a vaccine using an attenuated live strain is that the body will encounter—and be able to react to—the entire virus. People will “catch” it through their nose, and it will even grow inside them. In theory, that could prompt the formation of not just antibodies but also T cells and specialized forms of immunity in the nasal passage, leading to broader protection.

Take it slow: The engineered virus looks exactly the same as the real thing on the outside but has a “virtual brake pedal” inside, causing it to replicate much less quickly. Inside a person, it could be less efficient by a factor of up to 1,000, giving the immune system time to respond.

Long history: It might seem scary to imagine getting infected by the coronavirus on purpose, but attenuated-virus vaccines are common. The kids’ flu vaccine FluMist has a weakened influenza virus in it. The only disease ever successfully eradicated from the globe, smallpox, was wiped out with shots of a live virus. However, not all experts believe this is the right approach. Read the full story.

—Antonio Regalado

A national innovation mission got humans on the moon. Now the US needs one for climate change.

America has successfully launched national innovation missions time and again. These missions have delivered life-saving drugs, sparked the computer and internet revolutions, and put humans on the moon. Most recently, the US government has poured billions of dollars into a national innovation campaign to help pharmaceutical companies develop vaccines and therapeutics for covid-19.

Yet the United States has not launched such a mission to counter the gravest threat of our time: climate change. Although a few clean-energy technologies, such as wind and solar power, have reached cost competitiveness with fossil fuels, many more urgently need advances if the world is to achieve net-zero carbon emissions—a herculean feat known as “deep decarbonization.”

Now is the time for the United States to launch a National Energy Innovation Mission to speed such energy transitions around the world—and build competitive, job-creating industries at home.

Even though the politics of climate change are polarized, there is broad bipartisan agreement behind a strong push for energy innovation. Improving the performance and lowering the cost of clean-energy technologies are the most important contributions that the US can make to advance the world’s fight against climate change. Read the full story.

Varun Sivaram, Colin Cunliff, Julio Friedmann are coauthors of “Energizing America: A Roadmap to Launch a National Energy Innovation Mission.”

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.)

+ Cats are a never-ending source of amusement.
+ NPR is still doing its Tiny Desk Concerts—intimate gigs by musicians, just in a different space to usual.
+ You’d be amazed how many iterations of nachos are out there. (NYT $)
+ A bucket list of dishes to make this fall. (NYT $)
+ An informative, fun weekly podcast all about women in sport. And a comedy podcast where the participants review soccer player’s books.
+ A man in the UK used a live snake as a face mask on public transport.

The top ten must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 The latest Apple Watch can now measure blood oxygen levels
It’s going to run large-scale studies to see if it can be used to detect if the wearer has covid-19. (CNET)
+ Here’s what else Apple announced yesterday. (The Verge)
+ Could a breathalyzer be used to diagnose someone with the coronavirus? (Wired $)

2 Europe is learning to live with the virus
There is a compromise between being locked down, and a total free-for-all. (NYT $)
+ The CDC is banking on an alert system for nationwide covid-19 tracking. (Forbes)
+ The UK is experiencing a testing crisis, just as a second wave starts to build. (NYT $)
+ Most young Americans are now living back home. (Axios)

3 Celebrities are doing a day-long boycott of Facebook today
Well, that should fix it. (Axios)
+ People are mostly unimpressed. (NYT $)

4 Countries hoarding coronavirus vaccines will extend the pandemic
Wealthy nations have already preemptively bought nearly 2 billion doses, before a vaccine is even found. (Quartz)
+ Every country wants a covid-19 vaccine. Who will get it first? (TR)

5 Triller just signed up TikTok’s biggest star
Charli D’Amelio has 87 million followers. (The Verge)
+ TikTok is set to become a standalone company to satisfy the White House. (FT $)
+ But this still isn’t the outright “sale” Trump had demanded. (Reuters)
+ Courting Trump is really paying off for Oracle. (WP $)

6 An Uber safety driver has been charged with negligent homicide
The company escaped criminal liability, but the crash was a huge setback for its self-driving car efforts. (Ars Technica)
+ Self-driving truck company Nikola has been making some very misleading claims about its tech. (Ars Technica)

7 How to the US can avoid a voting catastrophe in November 🗳️
The crucial thing will be minimizing the number of rejected mail-in ballots. (IEEE Spectrum)

8 The rich are bunkering down
When all else fails, good ol’ capitalism will still be there for you. (The Atlantic)
+ A lot of us are effectively in bunkers already right now. (Slate)

9 The search for alien life on Venus is getting a funding boost 🔭
That was quick. (CNET)
+ The European Space Agency has awarded a $153 million contract for its first planetary defense mission. (TechCrunch)
+ What it’s like landing back on Earth from space. (Wired $)

10 A year-long e-scooter trial in the UK was paused after five days
One resident called them “hell on two wheels.” (BBC)

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Take a stand

“Climate change, it’s real, mate.”

—Ewan McAsh, a marine scientist and oyster farmer in southern Australia, tells the New York Times he and his neighbors are bracing for another fire season.

Top image credit: MS TECH | OHIO MEMORY

Please send nachos to hi@technologyreview.com.

Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading!

—Charlotte

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