Three Things You Need to Know Today
Uber’s Great Staff Exodus
The ride-hailer can’t stop hemorrhaging senior staff. After just seven months at Uber, its president, Jeff Jones, is quitting, explaining that the “beliefs and approach to leadership that have guided my career are inconsistent with what I saw and experienced at Uber.” Add to the list, in the last month or so: vice president of maps and business Brian McClendon, vice president of product and growth Ed Baker, security researcher Charlie Miller, and senior engineer Amit Singhal. Uber’s CEO is hiring a COO to help him ride out the storm—but bigger changes may be required.
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A New Generation of Genetic Drugs
Therapeutics made from RNA may be the next great class of medicine. Shortly after he was born, Cameron Harding was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy—an inherited illness that destroys motor neurons, quickly limits movement, and usually kills children before they turn two. But after he was treated with a new kind of RNA drug, he was soon able to move again, making him one of the first children to make such a recovery. We investigate a new breed of RNA therapies to understand the complexities they face and the promise they could offer.
Ad Boycotts Tackle Offensive Online Content
Sometimes, money can be power. Offensive content remains a significant problem for Internet giants like Facebook and Google, but a particularly galvanizing solution to the problem may come from big-name companies boycotting advertising. A number of banks and telecom companies in the UK have pulled ads from Google and YouTube over concerns that their promotions are appearing next to extremist material. The news has left executives at the search firm—which makes most of its income from ads—reeling, with a quick fix solution already issued but some tough decisions ahead.
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