FDA pathway for bespoke medicines & UK baby after womb transplant - News (Feb 24, 2026)

Today's topics: FDA pathway for bespoke medicines - The FDA released guidance on a “plausible mechanism pathway” to evaluate ultra-rare, patient-specific genetic therapies, including gene-editing approaches, when trials are impractical. UK baby after womb transplant - The UK recorded its first birth following a deceased-donor womb transplant, spotlighting MRKH syndrome, IVF, anti-rejection care, and new options for infertility treatment. Safer base editing for cystic fibrosis - Researchers at Penn and Rice redesigned cytosine base editors to cut “bystander” DNA changes by over 80%, with promising preclinical results for mutation-specific cystic fibrosis fixes. Encrypted RCS texting iPhone-Android - Apple and Google began beta testing end-to-end encrypted RCS between iPhone and Android, bringing stronger privacy protections to cross-platform messaging via the GSMA standard. China’s humanoid robots surge - China’s humanoid robot sector is scaling fast, powered by EV-style supply chains and improved AI control, raising new questions about jobs, data privacy, and investment bubbles. ICC hearing for Rodrigo Duterte - ICC judges opened a confirmation of charges hearing for former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, weighing alleged crimes against humanity linked to killings in the ‘war on drugs.’ Iran-US nuclear talks and protests - Iran and the US are expected to hold another Geneva round on nuclear issues, while Iran faces renewed student protests, disputed casualty figures, and intensifying human-rights scrutiny. War’s impact on Russia-Ukraine births - Four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, fertility rates have fallen further in both Ukraine and Russia, deepening long-term risks from aging populations and future labor shortages. Markets react to tariff upheaval - Markets dipped as investors weighed the US Supreme Court’s rollback of major Trump tariffs, shifting trade-policy uncertainty, stock movers like Novo and Domino’s, and a bitcoin pullback. https://www.statnews.com/2026/02/23/fda-rare-disease-new-guidelines-plausible-mechanism-pathway/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg53xp5857o https://www.seas.upenn.edu/stories/engineers-sharpen-gene-editing-tools-to-target-cystic-fibrosis/ https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/02/1167021 https://abcnews.com/Business/wireStory/us-futures-fall-asian-markets-higher-after-supreme-130398435 https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/24/russia-ukraine-birth-rate-fertility-rate-war-women-children-demographics-economy.html https://9to5google.com/2026/02/23/google-messages-encrypted-rcs-iphone/ https://theweek.com/tech/china-and-the-rise-of-the-humanoid-robots https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-02-23/us-military-begins-withdrawing-from-main-base-in-northeast-syria-syrian-sources-say https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/22/washington-and-tehran-to-hold-more-nuclear-talks-as-protests-reignite-in-iran