Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Let us know what you think at [email protected].
Take your shot
Vaccines are among modern medicine’s most important achievements — and even today, they’re still improving. The latest innovation comes in the form of inverse vaccines, “a new approach that targets only the specific part of the immune system that’s gone rogue,” reports The Guardian. Inverse vaccines could revolutionize what medicine can do for a wide range of autoimmune diseases, from arthritis to multiple sclerosis.
Michaela says:
This is really exciting news for the 800 million people in the world who suffer from autoimmune issues.
The old neighborhood
As if often the case in cities that have suffered a natural disaster, real estate speculators have swooped into Los Angeles, snapping up properties for high-priced redevelopment. In Altadena, one historically Black neighborhood has watched as over a dozen now-vacant lots have been sold to offshore private developers. But there’s good news, too: A Pasadena-based housing justice nonprofit recently purchased its first burned lot in Altadena, specifically to keep it in neighborhood hands — and away from speculators.
Will says:
As floods, storms, wildfires and other natural disasters multiply, we’ll need more mechanisms like this one to prevent widespread displacement by real estate interests, which is a force unto itself.
What else we’re reading
😢 Yes! Magazine, a solutions journalism mainstay, is closing next month — shared by Contributing Editor Peter Yeung
🚁 After a Crash, NYC Is Finally Tackling Its Helicopter Problems — shared by Executive Editor Will Doig from Bloomberg CityLab
