Understanding Biotech: The Fundamentals of Genetic Engineering

Biotechnology, a field at the forefront of scientific innovation, has become synonymous with the future of healthcare, agriculture, and environmental management. At its core, genetic engineering acts as the cornerstone of biotech advancements, enabling scientists and researchers to modify organisms at the molecular level. This transformative technology offers unprecedented opportunities to address some of the most pressing challenges facing our world today. Among the leaders in this field, Wheeler Bio stands out as a beacon of innovation and excellence, providing critical services that propel the industry forward.

The Science Behind Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering, or gene editing, involves the direct manipulation of an organism's genes using biotechnology. It encompasses a range of techniques, including recombinant DNA technology, CRISPR-Cas9, and gene therapy, each offering unique approaches to modify genetic material. These methods allow scientists to add, remove, or alter genetic material at particular locations in the genome, paving the way for disease resistance, increased productivity, and therapeutic applications.

Applications in Healthcare

In healthcare, genetic engineering is revolutionizing the development of treatments and therapies. From gene therapy, which corrects defective genes responsible for disease development, to the creation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for the production of insulin, growth hormones, and vaccines, the implications are profound. Companies like Wheeler Bio are instrumental in this process, utilizing their expertise in genetic engineering to develop and manufacture biopharmaceuticals that save lives and improve patient outcomes.

For the latest developments in genetic engineering and biotech, readers are encouraged to explore reputable news sources such as Nature Biotechnology and Science Daily. These platforms provide insights into the cutting-edge research and innovations that are shaping the future of medicine and healthcare.

Impact on Agriculture

The agricultural sector also benefits significantly from genetic engineering. By altering the genetic makeup of crops, scientists can create varieties that are more resistant to pests, diseases, and environmental conditions. This not only boosts crop yields and food security but also reduces the need for chemical pesticides, contributing to more sustainable farming practices. Genetic engineering is thus a key player in the global effort to feed an ever-growing population while preserving natural resources.

Ethical and Environmental Considerations

Despite its potential, genetic engineering raises important ethical and environmental questions. Concerns about GMO safety, biodiversity loss, and the ethical implications of modifying human embryos are at the forefront of public debate. Addressing these concerns requires a balanced approach, combining scientific innovation with rigorous regulatory frameworks and ethical considerations. Initiatives and research by organizations like Wheeler Bio contribute to this dialogue, ensuring that advancements in genetic engineering are pursued responsibly and with the greater good in mind.

The Future of Genetic Engineering

Looking ahead, the future of genetic engineering holds immense promise. With ongoing advancements in gene editing technologies, such as CRISPR-Cas9, we are on the cusp of a new era in biotech. These innovations have the potential to cure genetic diseases, enhance food security, and mitigate environmental challenges. As we navigate this future, companies like Wheeler Bio will continue to play a pivotal role, driving the research and development necessary to realize the full potential of genetic engineering.

Conclusion

Genetic engineering is a foundational element of biotechnology, offering revolutionary solutions to challenges in healthcare, agriculture, and environmental management. As we delve deeper into the possibilities it presents, it's essential to foster a collaborative environment that balances innovation with ethical responsibility. In this endeavor, the contributions of companies like Wheeler Bio are invaluable, exemplifying the best of what biotech has to offer. Through continued research, development, and dialogue, we can harness the power of genetic engineering to create a healthier, more sustainable world for generations to come.

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by Asim BN via Digital Information World

Passkeys Vs SMS Based Multi-Factor Authentication: Security Experts Claim Any Method Is Better Than None To Prevent Cyber Attacks

The latest trend to adopt advanced Passkeys as your tool of choice for authentication of devices has emerged. But security experts want you to know that if you’re not keen on modern technology, going old school and sticking with SMS-based MFA is still advised.

Yes, Passkeys are recommended as the top tool by experts thanks to the many advantages they provide. But if you haven’t been able to get around it, sticking to the basics brings no harm and some kind of protection is always better than none, as explained by Eric Skinner who is the VP for Trend Micro.

Many users feel comfortable with SMS MFA because it’s to the point and almost all devices entail it, he added during this year’s RSA Conference. Yes, the vulnerability factor cannot be ignored where hackers could break into the system due to the emergence of SIM Swapping ordeals. But wait, some people are overreacting just a tiny bit over here.

Sim Swapping technology has actors wishing specific victims focus and carry out a carefully modified social engineering experiment and that does need some type of effort.

Thankfully, the latest technology is gaining plenty of traction and that is why experts have come to the conclusion that you do what you feel is best and if passkeys are your thing, nothing is better. But if not, stick to whatever you have got.

When compared to the usual hardware security systems, Passkeys are more beneficial as they can utilize common devices for authentication purposes.

Passkeys guard against the likes of attackers in the middle of incidents. And yes, little to no skills are required on this front. Codes are published and you can install them from GitHut and even attain kits from there.

Way back in 2018, phishing email attacks were so common but today, it’s not the case with modern security systems. Attackers are now able to produce emails that are much better and more comprehensive.

These end up convincing others to press in certain areas or log in and it’s perfect.

When a false website gets the credentials from a user, it ends up passing them along to the actual site. This would give rise to MFA messages which are based on text only. However, when victims add in codes, this causes the attacker to capture it and then make use of it for logging-in purposes.

• Related: Try our unique password generator that allows users to create strong, random passwords with one click!

As mentioned by Skinner, this would also be working as authenticator platforms or through physical tokens that display changing codes. But can fake webpages bypass antivirus software too? If yes, how?

The answer by Skinner is yes. And that’s because fake variants run across servers without any presence seen on local machines. These attacks keep growing and to prevent yourself from being caught in the middle, plenty of explainers are provided on setting up passkeys through Amazon, Google, and Apple.

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Read next: The Most and Least Buggy Apps of 2024, According to Over 1 million Google Play Reviews
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

OpenAI Makes New Product Announcements Including New Media Manager And Deepfake Image Detector

Tech giant OpenAI just made several announcements that happen to be linked to a wave of new tools based on generative AI.

For starters, the company has spoken about a new media manager. This is designed to ensure content creators inform the firm about any material that’s under their sole ownership so their copyrights stay protected.

In the same way, it helps to ensure their content isn’t used for training purposes without consent and that’s a big deal because many have been robbed of their work ever since the revolution of generative AI.

The firm released a new statement on this front including how it would now require state-of-the-art learning research to produce its first tool of this kind to better highlight text, audio, pictures, and even videos coming from different sources. It would seemingly also ensure the creator’s voices are heard and not just ignored.

For now, the tool is just in its trial phase and we don’t see a launch coming before early next year. But seeing the company even speak about such a product has fans excited as OpenAI has been at the center of a lot of controversy and legal woes including those arising from big media firms like NYT.

In case you didn't know, the latter accused the tech giant of using content for AI training purposes.

In other news, the company has shed light on how it’s working on other offerings including an innovative tool created to detect pictures generated via the DALL-E art creator. Their goal seems to be more related to ensuring independent research is conducted where it examines how effective a classifier really is, provides considerations, and also determines where it could be used in the real world. Did we mention the characteristics that the content produced includes?

For a while now, deepfake images seem to be circulating with no checks and balances. But seeing OpenAI make efforts toward identifying real from fake is the way things need to be done. And let’s not forget how the tool at hand could differentiate real from fake and during trials. And it was miraculously how it could do that 98% of the time.

• Also read: The Most and Least Buggy Apps of 2024, According to Over 1 million Google Play Reviews

For now, it’s under an experimentation phase and no clues about when we might get to benefit from it were made public.

The tech giant added through a similar blog post how it hopes to join new groups to produce more standards so that online content could be better certified. Additionally, the tech giant and its top partner are collaborating for a whopping $2 million in funding which is dubbed Soicetal Resilience Fund.

This would be used for funding purposes that are allocated toward AI education and better comprehension. So as you can see, OpenAI is really moving full throttle in terms of ensuring it's answering the many questions surrounding its technology.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: New Chrome Feature, Video Chapters Mimics YouTube's Functionality, Aiding Navigation on Websites
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

New Chrome Feature, Video Chapters Mimics YouTube's Functionality, Aiding Navigation on Websites

According to a new post on Chrome’s status page, Google is going to add a new feature to its Chrome browser that will make videos break into chapters for easy navigation on websites. This feature is similar to how video chapters work on YouTube videos. This ‘Video Chapters’ feature is a based on Media Session API which is a part of the MediaMetadata interface. This API collects all the data used by a device’s user interface and helps in showing different artists, titles and other information to the user.

The advantage of adding video chapters in videos is that users can easily watch specific parts easily without wasting their time finding the parts they want to watch. When a video is transformed into chapters, each chapter of the video has its own preview and title, making it easy to find and rewatch the parts users want. The video chapters on YouTube work in a way that creators can either break the video in chapters manually or the YouTube does that for them automatically. Google Chrome will use the interface of MediaMetadata to get the same features on websites that will help in breaking videos into video chapters.

• Also read: Google’s Harmful Monopoly: US DOJ Raises The Curtain On Company’s Search Ad Price Manipulation

Google also wrote on the Chrome status page that video chapters will be added with the W3C API update on the platform. The feature will be added to the blink layer after adding ‘ChapterInformation’ to MediaMetadata. The ChapterInformation will be applied to audio as well as video as MediaMetadata works for both. Google will add this feature in Chrome for Desktop 126 and this will help in the easier navigation of videos.

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Read next: The Most and Least Buggy Apps of 2024, According to Over 1 million Google Play Reviews
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

The Most and Least Buggy Apps of 2024, According to Over 1 million Google Play Reviews

From managing finances to ordering food, there seems to be an app for everything nowadays. And it's fair to say that they're streamlining our lives in ways that would have been unimaginable to previous generations.

Or at least in most cases.

Because amidst all the convenience, there lies a persistent nuisance that makes some apps feel like they're more trouble than they're worth.

We're talking about bugs and glitches, those pesky errors that can turn a smooth experience into a super-frustrating temper tantrum.

So which apps are causing the most problems for users in 2024, and which are fulfilling their promise to make our lives an absolute breeze?

These questions inspired the latest study from the research team at Electronics Hub. It analyzed over 1.8 million (yes, 1.8 million!) Google Play reviews, then calculated the number of mentions of glitches and bugs for every 1,000 posted.

Then the team translated all the data into several charts showing the most and least buggy apps of 2024.

Let's take a look at the results.

The buggiest apps of 2024

With 325 mentions of bugs and glitches in every 1,000 Google Play reviews, the banking app Go Program Way2Go Card is officially the buggiest app of 2024.

And some of those reviews are absolutely brutal. "This is the worst app I have ever used in terms of crashing/bugs/glitching," reads one of the many one-star reviews. "You cannot log in at all, but the few times I can get it to log in, it IMMEDIATELY logs me out."

The least buggy apps of 2024

Online dating can be...a frustrating experience. Thankfully, those frustrations don't include annoying bugs and glitches — or at least not for those using FlirtMe and Once to find their perfect partner.

These two dating apps have the fewest mentions of bugs in Google Play reviews. FlirtMe had just 8.8 negative mentions per 1,000 reviews, while only 12.2 out of every 1,000 reviews for Once complained about annoying glitches.

The most and least buggiest social media apps

The designers of SendIt, the Q&A social media app, should give themselves a huge pat on the back. That's because their first-rate coding means users experience fewer bugs compared to all the other social media apps.

We can't say the same for the design team behind Amino. Sloppy coding means the app is riddled with bugs, making it practically unusable for thousands of paying customers. "Super ANNOYING," reads one review. "It always gives me a server error, and the only way I can get past it is by uninstalling the app and reinstalling it over and over again." Not exactly a great user experience.

Glitch rates in shopping apps

After analyzing data from over 1.8 million reviews, the Electronics Hub researchers found that Wawa is the most annoying shopping app. It had just under 150 mentions of bugs and glitches for every 1,000 Google Play reviews.

Wholesale discount provider Sam's Club can boast that it has the least buggy shopping app of the year. Less than 25 out of every 1,000 reviews on Google Play talk about problems using the apps due to bugs and error messages.

The Taco Bell App needs some work

Taco Bell might be great at cooking up classic Mexican food. But it sucks at app design. With more than 250 references to bugs and glitches, it's the most annoying food and delivery app in terms of usability.

Other fast-food chains with apps that have a big problem with bugs include Wendy's (159 mentions), Chick-fil-A (126 mentions), and Subway (126).

The management team at these chains should think about poaching some coders from Crumbl. These tech wizards built the least buggy food app in 2024. Only 22 of every 1,000 Crumbl Google Play reviews rant about glitches and bugs.

Bugs and glitches in gaming apps

Pokémon Go tops the list of the most bugged gaming apps of 2024. The data shows 153 reviews talking about glitches for every 1,000 posted. "How are you supposed to catch them all when the app keeps crashing due to bugs?" posted one frustrated user—excellent question.

And Call of Duty app players often see their kill streak come to an end due to bugs and glitches. As the second buggiest gaming app of the year, it had 114 mentions per 1,000 reviews.

Buggy productivity apps

The GLT Getting Out app promotes itself as a productivity app.

Essentially, it's supposed to make staying in touch with friends and family fast and simple. Sounds great. But there's just one big problem. According to its Google Play reviews, the app is riddled with bugs and glitches that ruin the user experience. Some have even called it an anti-productivity app.

On the other hand, the user experience with WiFi Password Map is practically seamless - just like any good productivity app should be. An analysis of its Google Play reviews shows less than 16 references to bugs in every 1,000 posted.

Problems with finance apps in 2024

The Naval Federal Credit Union is among the most buggy finance apps of 2024. Other finance apps that can be a real pain to use include Huntington Mobile and Woodforest Mobile Banking.

You won't find many mentions of bugs and glitches when you scroll through the reviews of the Experian app. In fact, you'll have to read more than 1,000 before you come across 30 references to bugs and disruptive glitches.

Read next: The Limits of Smart Home Assistants: Discovering What's Beyond
by Irfan Ahmad via Digital Information World

Google Updates 2-Step Verification Setup Process

Google has updated the setup process for 2-step verification on its accounts. The procedure is simpler and more straightforward now. Previously, users had to activate 2SV using a phone number before they could add other methods like Google Authenticator or a security key. Now, users can add these second-step methods directly without starting with a phone number.

The update includes new options for adding a hardware security key as an extra layer of security. Users can either register a FIDO1 credential or store a Passkey on their security key. This change aims to enhance security and streamline the process.

For users with Workspace accounts, which are managed by organizations, there might still be a requirement to use a password in addition to the passkey if their organization's policies demand it. However, organizations have the option to allow passwordless logins through the admin policy titled "Allow users to skip passwords at sign-in by using passkeys."

Google first introduced Passkeys for Android and Chrome in the latter half of 2022. Since its launch, Passkeys have been used over a billion times across 400 million Google accounts.

• Also read: Android vs iPhone: Which Operating System is Dominating the Smartphone Market?

In addition to these updates, Google made another change concerning how second-step verification methods are managed. If a user decides to disable 2SV, all secondary methods such as backup codes, second factor phones, or Google Authenticator will no longer be automatically removed from their account.

However, if an administrator disables 2SV for a user from the admin console, all second factors will be deleted to ensure that the user off-boarding workflows are not affected.

These updates are now available to all Workspace customers and personal Google account users. Google expects the rollout of these new features to be completed within three days. The aim of these changes is to simplify the security process for users and administrators alike, making it easier to manage and enforce 2SV policies within organizations.

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Read next: Steps to Delete Your Threads Account Without Deleting Your Instagram Profile – A Complete Guide
by Mahrukh Shahid via Digital Information World

Steps to Delete Your Threads Account Without Deleting Your Instagram Profile – A Complete Guide

When Meta released Instagram’s sister app called Threads, it had everyone in a chokehold. A great number of people downloaded Threads to see why everyone was hyping it up. But what most people didn’t pay attention to was the fact that the Threads account has to be created from Instagram’s account. Once you make your Threads account, you cannot delete it without deleting your Instagram account.

Most users didn’t have any plans to use Threads permanently. So, users started asking Meta to introduce a feature that could let them delete their Threads account without deleting their Instagram account.

Meta took this request well and came up with the feature to delete the Threads account separately. Now you can easily delete your Threads account without deleting your Instagram account. The process is very easy and you can do it with just a flick of your finger. Continue reading this article and find out the way to delete your Threads account.

Deleting Your Threads Account– A Step by Step Guide

The procedure for deleting your Threads account is fairly easy. All you need to do is follow the steps below and you will be able to delete your Threads account without deleting your Instagram account.

● First of all, open your Threads app.
● On the bottom right corner of the screen, click on your profile icon.
● On the top right corner, click on the two stacked lines.
● You will see the Settings page.
● Click on “Accounts”.
● You will see a “Deactivate Account” option.
● By clicking on the option, you will be able to deactivate or delete your Threads account without deleting the Instagram account.

Instagram’s help center also highlights that when you delete your Threads account, your Instagram account won’t be deleted. But if you delete or deactivate your Instagram account, your Threads account will also get deleted.

Why Do I Still Not Have This Feature?

If you still do not have the feature for deleting or deactivating your Threads account, there's nothing to worry about. The feature is currently in the roll out phase and is not accessible to everyone yet. If you do not see the “Deactivate Threads” option on your Threads account, wait a few days and check again. Make sure to update your Threads app too or try the Beta version of Instagram!

Why did Meta Come Up with This Decision?

Threads was made as a competitive app against X (formerly known as Twitter). When Threads was initially released, millions of users were rushed to try what this platform has to offer. After sometime, when users realized they couldn't delete their Threads account, once it’s made, they went to X to complain about it. Users said that it feels like they are stuck and there’s no way out.

As people were complaining about Threads on X, which was a rival to Threads, Meta decided to facilitate their users. So it was about time to bring out new features to the app.

Conclusion

Now users will not have to worry about losing their Instagram account after deleting their Threads account. Follow the step by step guide above to delete your Threads account without deleting your Instagram account. It will take less than a minute!

Read next: World Wide Web of Inequality: New Study Reveals the Most and Least Affordable Countries for Mobile and Broadband Data
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World