PAMLOMO-SAUTI YA JAMII

If warming is not tackled, levels of humid heat that can kill within hours will affect millions across south Asia within decades, analysis finds ‘Unfair’: poor farmers are most at risk from future humid heatwaves but have contributed little to the emissions that drive climate change. Photograph: NurPhoto/via Getty Images Damian Carrington Environment editor  Extreme heatwaves that kill even healthy people within hours will strike parts of the Indian subcontinent unless global carbon emissions are cut sharply and soon, according to new research. Even outside of these hotspots, three-quarters of the 1.7bn population – particularly those farming in the Ganges and Indus valleys – will be exposed to a level of humid heat classed as posing “extreme danger” towards the end of the century. The new analysis assesses the impact of climate change on the deadly combination of heat and humidity, measured as the “wet bulb” temperature (WBT). Once this reaches ...

Groundbreaking project corrects faulty DNA linked to fatal heart condition and raises hopes for parents who risk passing on genetic diseases A human egg seen through a microscope. In the study, Crispr-Cas9 was used to fix mutations which cause a potentially fatal heart condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Photograph: Getty Images Ian Sample Science editor  Scientists have modified human embryos to remove genetic mutations that cause heart failure in otherwise healthy young people in a landmark demonstration of the controversial procedure. It is the first time that human embryos have had their genomes edited outside China, where researchers have performed a handful of small studies to see whether the approach could prevent inherited diseases from being passed on from one generation to the next. While none of the research so far has created babies from modified embryos, a move that would be illegal in many countries, the work represents a mil...