【推荐2】About a year and a half ago, Patrick Doherty found out he had a rare, but disastrous inherited disease—known as transthyretin amyloidosis—that had killed his father. A misshapen protein was building up in his body, destroying important tissues. Victims of this disease often die a difficult death.

So Doherty was thrilled when he found out that doctors were testing a new way to try to treat amyloidosis. The approach used a revolutionary gene-editing technique called CRISPR, which allows scientists to make very precise changes in DNA. On Saturday, researchers reported the first data indicating that the experimental treatment worked, causing levels of the destructive protein to decrease in Doherty’s body.

CRISPR has already been shown to help some patients. And doctors are trying to use it to treat cancer and to restore vision to people blinded by a rare genetic disorder. But those experiments involve taking cells out of the body, editing them in the lab, and putting them back in or injecting CRISPR directly into cells that need fixing.

The study Doherty volunteered for is the first in which doctors are simply putting the gene-editor directly into patients and letting it find its own way to the right gene in the right cells. In this case, it’s cells in the liver making the destructive protein.

“It really is exciting,” says Dr. Julian Gillmore, who is leading the study at the University College London, Royal Free Hospital. “This has the potential to completely revolutionize the outcome for these patients who have lived with this disease in their family for many generations.” The patients will have to be followed longer, and more patients will have to be treated, to make sure the treatment’s safe, and determine how much it’s helping. Gillmore stresses.

The promising results potentially open the door for using the same approach to treatment of many other, more common diseases for which taking cells out of the body or directly injecting CRISPR isn’t realistic, including heart disease and brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

【推荐3】Firefighters in Florida this week helped rescue a bald eagle with a fishing hook stuck in its beak （嘴）and the attached line wrapped around its wing and beak. Firefighters at Pasco County Fire Rescue Station 21 on Thursday were greeted by two children holding the injured bald eagle and seeking help, according to the station’s Facebook page.

The firefighters called Owl’s Nest Sanctuary （保护区）for Wildlife in Odessa for assistance and a volunteer came out to help. "It appears that the eagle was wrapped in the line for about two days, was underweight, and thirsty,” the post said. Florida has one of the densest concentrations of nesting bald eagles in the lower 48 states with an estimated 1 ,500 nesting pairs according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Pasco County is located in the state's west central coast north of Tampa.

After the eagle was examined, it was placed in a container and taken to the sanctuary for treatment where Kris Potter, the sanctuary's director, successfully removed the hook.

The sanctuary posted on its Facebook page that the eagle is making up for lost time when it comes to food. "He's eating all his meals with great enthusiasm and doesn't leave a crumb （碎屑） behind,“ the post said. "In the meantime, this big guy is resting and recovering ——he's already looking so much better!”

After the eagle is considered stable, it will be taken to Busch Gardens in Tampa for further treatment, according to the post.

“ Thankfully the eagle appears in good health and veterinarians （兽医）believe that the eagle will fully recover," the post said.

When the eagle is cleared for return to the wild, it will be released in the area around Station 21 , the station said in its post.

“A big thank-you to everyone who helped save this bald eagle's life! We are thankful for this happy outcome!” the post concluded. The sanctuary used the story to remind those who enjoy fishing to properly dispose of their garbage.

【推荐1】I hate being overweight. My husband said he didn’t mind. But I knew he still hoped I had a beautiful body. Everything from my waist to legs was overweight. When I looked in the mirror, I had to comfort myself that I looked better in full clothes. I was never in the mood to go out. I’d spread my clothes out all over my bed, knowing that I wouldn’t fit into most of them. And when I finally left the house, I’d feel too embarrassed to enjoy myself.

Finally, just after Christmas last year, I decided that something had to be done. I was at my fattest ever after all those big meals and desserts.

I met Dr. Wallace and she was great. She told me I had to stop eating fast food. It was very hard for me because I was eating them three or four times a week: pizza, hamburgers, whatever I could get. But I made a promise to myself at the start that I would try my best to do it—and I did. I even cut down the booze—something I thought I could never do because I used to have two glasses of wine with dinner.

My best friend, Rachel Waterman, said I had to walk 10,000 steps every day. That, too, was very hard for me at the start. I was used to driving everywhere, including the supermarket, which was about three hundred metres from my house!

But I began to walk everywhere instead. I walked in the morning before work, and after work my husband and I took a walk in the park together. Now I never go to bed until I’ve done my 10,000 steps. Last month, my husband bought me an iPod, which keeps me going.

Losing the weight is wonderful—I feel like a different person now, and can finally buy what I want in the shops. I am so proud of myself because everyone thought I wouldn’t be able to do it—including myself.

I love my new body, and I’ll never let myself go back into my old ways.