Gene-editing has been made legal in England to a mixed bag reception – some label it a breakthrough in the production of development of hardier crops, others predict it will cause an “environmental disaster”.
bbc.co.uk/news/science-e… Gene editing involves making precise changes to an organism's DNA to enhance certain characteristics and has the backing of leading scientific figures at @DefraGovUK, but is it really a good thing?

Sotheby's has posted record sale figures this week, which they have credited to a more younger, tech-savvy collector base. To date, they have generated $7.3bn so far in 2021.
theguardian.com/artanddesign/2… The iconic auction house has sold a record $7.3bn (£5.5bn) worth of art and collectables in 2021 so far, which is said to be the highest amount in its 277-year history, with sales already 71% higher than they had been in 2020.

Researchers have discovered that Mary, Queen of Scots, 'locked' her final letter using a paper-folding technique before she was beheaded.
theguardian.com/books/2021/dec… On 8th February 1587, from her prison cell, Mary Queen of Scots writes for the last time. The letter addressed to Henry III, king of France, sees Mary write, in French, that she has "been advised of my sentence: I am to be executed like a criminal at eight in the morning."

Despite suffering a head injury during the first test last week, the Lions are still hoping to feature Welshman Dan Biggar in their next match. His participation has been called into question by @ProgressiveRug. The Lions secured a 22-17 victory over the Springboks but 31-year-old Biggar was removed for a head injury assessment (HIA) after a heavy knock to the head, from which he didn't return.
amp.rugbypass.com/news/elephant-…

Last year I congratulated Demis Hassabis, a former chess prodigy who went on to astound the scientific community with his algorithms. His company, @DeepMind who research and build safe #AI systems, has now made a database of human protein structures freely available online. It is said that scientists have only decoded the structure of a fraction of human proteins in "onerous" lab work, which begun in the 1950s. However, DeepMind's AI program, AlphaFold, has claimed to have predicted the structure of nearly all 20,000 proteins expressed by humans.

I'm delighted to announce that the Drake Rugby Biomarker Study, focussed on the association between elite rugby and changes in brain structure, has been published after years of research.
fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/pd… This study is absolutely vital in contributing to the immediate changes needed in rugby protocols to prioritise player welfare, now and in the future. 23% of elite adult rugby players had abnormalities in brain structure, with 50% showing an unexpected reduction in brain volume.