DTN 060: Gene Therapy Trial Cures Girl's Deafness

Plus: Florida bans lab-grown meat, $8B climate tech comeback, psychedelic toad venom for depression, rifle-armed robot dogs, and more.

May 10, 2024

"As unmanned systems get adopted more broadly, there will be nothing they can’t do — they’ll be capable of analyzing more complex data to make decisions in flight, they’ll have smarter obstacle avoidance, and they’ll coordinate with each other in real-time for swarm action. Drones will be a force in every major American industry. They will improve lives at home and save lives on the battlefield."

The Big Picture

“A British girl has had her hearing restored after becoming the first in the world to take part in a groundbreaking new gene therapy trial. Opal Sandy, aged 18 months, was born completely deaf due to the condition auditory neuropathy, which is caused by the disruption of nerve impulses travelling from the inner ear to the brain. Now, thanks to a “one and done” gene therapy being trialed in the UK and worldwide, Opal’s hearing is almost normal – and could even improve further.” (Independent)

Deep Tech News

JPEG of the Week

Hydrostor, a leader in compressed air energy storage, aims to break ground on its first large-scale plant in New South Wales by the end of this year. It plans to follow that with an even bigger facility in California.

There is a clear need for long-duration energy storage to bridge gaps when renewable generation is low. Toronto's Hydrostor is scaling up compressed air storage, with upcoming 200 MW and 500 MW projects in Australia and California able to discharge for 8 hours. Success with these initial utility-scale plants could enable wider deployment of their long-duration energy storage solution. (via Wired)

Peer Review

Funding x M&A

Miscellanea

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