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The Biggest Technology Failures of 2016

From algorithms that spread fake news to glowing plants that don’t glow, here are our picks for the worst technologies of the year.
December 27, 2016

The world’s most expensive medicine

The most expensive drug on the planet is Glybera. It’s famous for being the first gene therapy ever approved in Europe and for its eye-popping price tag of $1 million. But what we learned this year is that the drug, for a rare metabolic condition, has only ever been given once, due to concerns over its cost and how well it works. Instead of being a history-making start to the era of DNA replacement, Glybera is a complete bust for its creator, the gene-therapy startup called UniQure.

Deep Dive

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The race to destroy PFAS, the forever chemicals 

Scientists are showing these damaging compounds can be beat.

Capitalizing on machine learning with collaborative, structured enterprise tooling teams

Machine learning advances require an evolution of processes, tooling, and operations.

How scientists are being squeezed to take sides in the conflict between Israel and Palestine

Tensions over the war are flaring on social media—with real-life ramifications.

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Illustration by Rose Wong

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