1. A powerful gene-editing tool called Crispr-Cas9, which this month nabbed the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for two female scientists, can cause serious side effects in the cells of human embryos, prompting them to discard large chunks of their genetic material, a new study has found. Administered to cells to repair a mutation that can cause hereditary blindness, the Crispr-Cas9 technology appeared to wreak genetic havoc in about half the specimens that the researchers examined, according to a study published in the journal Cell on Thursday. The consequences of these errors can be quite serious in some cases, said Dieter Egli, a geneticist at Columbia University and an author of the study. Some cells were so flummoxed by the alterations that they simply gave up on trying to fix them, jettisoning entire chromosomes, the units into which human DNA is packaged, Dr. Egli said. (via The New York Times, cell.com)
2. Most voters, when asked what really worries them on the eve of this election, don’t cite their own finances, job prospects or personal safety. According to a national survey conducted by The Upshot and Siena College, they aren’t so much fretting about themselves as they are anxious about the country. They fear the next generation in America will be worse off. Even some voters who say they are personally better off than four years ago say the country as a whole is worse off. And by wide margins, voters on the left and right say they’re concerned about the stability of American democracy. (via The New York Times)
3. President Trump’s repeated assertions the United States is “rounding the turn” on the novel coronavirus have increasingly alarmed the government's top health experts, who say the country is heading into a long and potentially deadly winter with an unprepared government unwilling to make tough choices. “We’re in for a whole lot of hurt. It’s not a good situation,” Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s leading infectious-disease expert, said in a wide-ranging interview late Friday. “All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season, with people congregating at home indoors. You could not possibly be positioned more poorly.” (via The Washington Post)
4. Super Typhoon Goni, the world's strongest storm this year, crashed into the Philippines on Sunday, leaving a trail of destruction and flash floods behind it. When Goni slammed into Catanduanes Island early Sunday morning, home to 260,000 people, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center estimated its peak winds were around 195 mph. These extreme winds are as strong as any landfalling storm on record on the planet and comparable to Super Typhoon Haiyan, the catastrophic storm that devastated Tacloban City in the Philippines in 2013 and killed more than 6,000. (via The Washington Post)
Quick Links: A deep look at how financial markets are designed. 20 counties in battleground states that are crucial for a White House victory (be sure to scroll down). Florida is expected to be very close. Here’s why. Democrats grow more anxious about Pennsylvania. Many states will not have complete results on election night. Among them: Michigan and Pennsylvania.