On closer inspection, a specific type of insulating material is placed between the chip and the structure beneath it. This material, called a dielectric membrane, is produced in sheets as thin as a white blood cell.
Over the course of 30 years, a single Japanese company called Ajinomoto made billions of dollars producing this particular film. Competitors have tried to surpass it, and today Ajinomoto's products are used in everything from laptops to data centers.
Now the Berkeley, California-based startup is launching a massive effort to oust Ajinomoto and bring a small part of the chip manufacturing supply chain back to the United States. However, success is not guaranteed. Read the full story.
—James O'Donnell
Efforts to make groundbreaking cancer treatments more affordable
CAR-T therapy, created by engineering a patient's own cells to fight cancer, is generally reserved for people who have exhausted other treatment options. But last week, the FDA approved Carvykti, a CAR-T product for the treatment of multiple myeloma, as a second-line treatment. This means people are eligible to receive Carvykti after their first relapse.
This means that some multiple myeloma patients in the United States will now have access to CAR-T earlier, but the vast majority of patients around the world will still not receive CAR-T at all. These treatments are expensive, in some cases reaching $500,000. But does it really have to be that way? Read the full story.