Sequoia and Colossal fuel Warhound's $200 million push to rewrite canine genes for combat

A startup founded by Palmer Luckey has raised $200 million to develop genetically modified dogs for military use.

The company, Warhound, stated that the project aims to produce animals capable of detecting explosives and providing protection for troops. Investors in the funding round include Sequoia. Colossal Biosciences is reported to be assisting with the cloning and gene-editing processes required for the program.

Health researchers also announced new results on Tuesday. Moderna and Merck reported that their mRNA cancer vaccine reduced death rates by 42% among patients with melanoma. The data showed a lower risk of disease recurrence for those who received the treatment.

In a separate development in genomics, researchers indicated that a gene-editing technique known as prime editing has reached its first human patient. The procedure involves rewriting DNA within liver cells.

Cybersecurity experts assessed a set of recently disclosed flaws in the PHP programming language. Although the vulnerabilities initially caused websites to go offline globally, successful attacks have not yet been reported. Officials urged website operators to apply available patches. Ian Landsman, a software developer, praised volunteer Ondřej Surý for his work on the fixes. Landsman described Surý as an unsung hero of the internet.

Google announced a virtual power plant program that will pay customers to free up electricity for its data centers. The initiative rewards individuals for adjusting their energy usage. A separate report alleged that the company illegally cut down 250,000 trees in Finland to build a data center.

Climate scientists published findings suggesting that fossil fuel emissions may have prevented the onset of the next ice age. The research indicated that modern warming reversed 2,000 years of ice growth. Researchers also reported recreating solar flares in an effort to explain the high temperature of the Sun's corona.

Donald Trump stated that Elon Musk had restored Ukraine's access to Starlink. President Volodymyr Zelensky countered that Starlink speeds remained capped. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump asked Musk to lift those speed limits.

MIT Technology Review released its Impossible issue, which evaluates progress on six long-predicted technologies. The topics include decoding pet vocalizations, removing forever chemicals from the environment, faster Mars travel, exercise delivered via pill, and nuclear-powered spaceships. The publication noted that it asked experts to identify what is holding each technology back and to assess how far each has advanced.