The Download: growing Africa’s food, and deleting your 23andMe data

After falling steadily for decades, the prevalence of global hunger is now on the rise—nowhere more so than in sub-Saharan Africa.

Conflicts, economic fallout from the covid-19 pandemic, and extreme weather events linked to climate change have pushed the share of the population considered undernourished from 18% in 2015 to 23% in 2023.

Africa’s indigenous crops are often more nutritious and better suited to the hot and dry conditions that are becoming more prevalent, yet many have been neglected by science, which means they tend to be more vulnerable to diseases and pests and yield well below their theoretical potential.

Now the question is whether researchers, governments, and farmers can work together in a way that gets these crops onto plates and provides Africans from all walks of life with the energy and nutrition that they need to thrive, whatever climate change throws their way. Read the full story.

—Jonathan W. Rosen

This piece is from the next print issue of MIT Technology Review, which comes out next Wednesday and delves into the weird and wonderful world of food. If you don’t already, subscribe to receive a copy once it lands.

How to… delete your 23andMe data

Things aren’t looking good for 23andMe. The consumer DNA testing company recently parted ways with all its board members but CEO Anne Wojcicki over her plans to take the company private. It’s also still dealing with the fallout of a major security breach last October, which saw hackers access the personal data of around 5.5 million customers.

23andMe’s business is built on taking DNA samples from its customers to produce personalized genetic reports detailing a user’s unique health and ancestry. The uncertainty swirling around the company’s future and potential new ownership has prompted privacy campaigners to urge users to delete their data. Caveats apply… but here’s how you can do it. 

—Rhiannon Williams