The Download: Biotech's Future and Cheaper, Cleaner Steel
Plus: Anthropic says it has blocked potential plots to build biological weapons.
By Thomas Macaulay | September 11, 2026
This is today's edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology.
Meet the under-35s shaping the future of biotech
Every year, MIT Technology Review assembles its 35 Innovators Under 35, a list celebrating some of the brightest young minds working across science and technology. This year's honorees include nine people transforming biotech, whose work spans everything from lifesaving innovations to groundbreaking longevity tech.
Their innovations include a "reprogramming" therapy that reverses vision loss, tiny brain electrodes inspired by Japanese art, and a personalized gene-editing treatment for a baby with a rare genetic disorder. There are even efforts to design new viruses with generative AI, which (hopefully) will produce new drugs or help soak up pollution.
Get to know the biotech innovators behind these breakthroughs.
—Jessica Hamzelou
Cheaper, cleaner steel
Steel is one of the world's most essential materials—and one of its dirtiest. The industry accounts for roughly 8% of global carbon emissions, and demand keeps rising. A growing wave of startups and established players is betting that a combination of hydrogen, electrolysis, and smarter recycling can finally clean up the sector.
New processes aim to replace coal-fired blast furnaces with green hydrogen–powered direct reduction, while others are turning to molten oxide electrolysis that emits oxygen instead of CO₂. If these technologies scale in the next few years, they could reshape a trillion-dollar industry and put a serious dent in global emissions. Read the full story.
The must-reads
I've combed the internet to find you today's most fun, important, and eminently readable stories about tech.
- Anthropic says it has blocked potential plots to build biological weapons. The AI company's safety team flagged and disrupted attempts to use its models for dangerous bioweapons research. (Anthropic)
- The race to build AI's next big thing is heating up. From agents to world models, here's what to watch. (MIT Technology Review)
- How AI is reshaping the way we work in 2026. A look at the tools, policies, and tensions defining the new workplace. (MIT Technology Review)
- The quantum computing hype cycle is entering a new phase. What's real, what's not, and what's coming next. (MIT Technology Review)
Quote of the day
"We're not just designing molecules anymore—we're designing biology itself."
—A 2026 Innovator Under 35 on the future of synthetic biology
Endnote
As biotech accelerates and AI grows more powerful, the line between breakthrough and risk keeps blurring. The same tools that could reverse blindness or design new drugs could, in the wrong hands, be turned toward harm. That's why safety work—like Anthropic's attempt to block bioweapon plots—matters just as much as the science itself.
Tomorrow, we'll be back with more. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your day.
—Thomas