Ending our addictions to online shopping and CRISPR for high cholesterol

The trial is a potential turning point for CRISPR, the editing tool they used. Since the technology was first programmed to edit genomes about a decade ago, we’ve seen CRISPR move from science labs to clinics. But the first experimental treatments focused on rare genetic diseases. Anti-cholesterol therapy has broader potential. Read the full story on how new forms of CRISPR could enable treatments for common diseases.

CRISPR for hypercholesterolemia is one of our 10 game-changing technologies, which we feature every day in The Download. Take a look at the rest of the list and vote in our poll to help us decide what our final 11th tech should be.

The unavoidable

I’ve scoured the internet to find you today’s funniest/important/scariest/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Twitter briefly verified accounts belonging to the Taliban
This is yet another demonstration of the dangers of audit billing. (The Guardian)
+ Twitter has lost more than 500 of its biggest advertisers. (Information $)
+ The company’s art and office furniture are auctioned off. (NYT$)
+ Elon Musk’s “hardcore” workplace looks absolutely terrible. (The edge)

2 Crypto is on a comeback tour
The industry wants to change influential minds. But do they buy it? (WP$)
+ Even crypto veterans are feeling the crunch. (WSJ$)

3 Meta’s Advisory Board Wants To Free The Nipple
The company’s longstanding anti-nudity stance appears to be softening. (Engadget)

4 Quantum computing is still incredibly sensitive to noise
A young startup thinks it has found a solution to block out external sounds. (Wired $)
+ What’s next for quantum computing. (MIT Technology Review)

5 The US Still Really Wants To Ban TikTok
However, this would trigger a major backlash from its millions of US users. (voice)

6 Legal complaints against Tesla’s self-driving software are piling up
But Elon Musk continues to insist that it is safe. (NYT$)

7 How AI helps fight crop diseases
From blight analysis to crop resilience improvement. (Knowable Magazine $)
+ There’s a colossal amount of money swirling around AI right now. (Atlantic $)
+ How technology could finally start telling farmers things they didn’t already know. (MIT Technology Review)

8 How Messi and Ronaldo fans took over Instagram
And escalated football’s biggest grudge match in the process. (Rest of the world)

9 How Battle Royale Mode Infiltrated Video Games
An all-out brawl is the perfect antidote to overly scripted formulas. (New Yorkers $)

10 Here are the propanefluencers
This is the latest wave of fossil fuel propaganda. (NY Mag$)

quote of the day

“I had tears in my eyes. Something I had thought would be a reality in the future was a reality that day. We shouldn’t reach these temperatures – it would be impossible without climate change.