Watch a subscriber-only conversation with Sneha Goenka, who designed the computations behind the world's fastest whole-genome sequencing method. Every year, MIT Technology Review selects one individual whose work we admire to recognize as Innovator of the Year. For 2025, we chose Sneha Goenka, who designed the computations behind the world's fastest whole-genome sequencing method . Thanks to her work, physicians can now sequence a patient's genome and diagnose a genetic condition in less than eight hours--an achievement that could transform medical care. Exclusive: A record-breaking baby has been born from an embryo that's over 30 years old Jessica Hamzelou Therapists are secretly using ChatGPT. Exclusive: A record-breaking baby has been born from an embryo that's over 30 years old The embryos were created in 1994, while the expectant father was still a toddler, and donated via a Christian "embryo adoption" agency.

This week has been an eventful one for America's public health agency. Two former leaders of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explained why they suddenly departed in a Senate hearing. They also described how CDC employees are being instructed to turn their backs on scientific evidence. They painted a picture of a health agency in turmoil--and at risk of harming the people it is meant to serve. And, just hours afterwards, a panel of CDC advisers voted to stop recommending the MMRV vaccine for children under four. This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review's weekly biotech newsletter.

The Download: America's gun crisis, and how AI video models work We can't "make American children healthy again" without tackling the gun crisis This week, the Trump administration released a strategy for improving the health and well-being of American children. The report was titled--you guessed it--Make Our Children Healthy Again. It suggests American children should be eating more healthily. And they should be getting more exercise. This week's news of yet more high-profile shootings at schools in the US throws this disconnect into even sharper relief. Experts believe it is time to treat gun violence in the US as what it is: a public health crisis.