Daily briefing: A polo-team's worth of cloned CRISPR horses

"The horses pictured above are the first of their species to have been created with the help of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technique. They are clones of the prize-winning steed Polo Pureza, with a tweak to myostatin - a gene involved in regulating muscle development - that is designed to quicken their pace. Critics say that genetic manipulation has no place among polo's traditional breeding practices - it has already been banned by some of the sport's governing bodies."

"A newly discovered type of immune cell found in fat tissue seems to contribute to 'inflammageing' - the chronic inflammation that develops with ageing - in mice. Researchers found that the new type of cell emerges in the deep fat around internal organs as mice age and produces high levels of inflammatory molecules. Other immune cells in the fatty tissue appear to keep these inflammation-boosters at bay, but their numbers dwindle later in life in females."

"Exposure to air pollution could increase the risk of developing Lewy body dementia (LBD), a term that includes Parkinson's disease with dementia. An analysis of data from 56 million people suggests there is a clear link between long-term exposure to PM 2.5 - particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres in diameter - and the development of LBD. These pollutants don't necessarily induce the dementia, but "accelerates the development" in people who are already genetically predisposed to it, says clin"

CRISPR-Cas9 produced cloned polo horses with a myostatin modification intended to quicken pace, prompting bans from some governing bodies even as edited livestock gains agricultural acceptance. A newly identified immune cell accumulates in deep visceral fat of ageing mice, secreting high levels of inflammatory molecules and contributing to chronic inflammageing; other immune cells restrain these cells but decline later in life in females. Long-term exposure to PM2.5 air pollution associates with increased risk of Lewy body dementia in an analysis of 56 million people, appearing to accelerate disease development in genetically predisposed individuals.

Read at Nature