In this week’s edition of The Prototype, we look at the hunt for extraterrestrial life, the Lasker Awards for biomedical research, gene editing to cure diabetes and more. To get The Prototype in your inbox, sign up here . Artist conception of the Trappist One System NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)

T he James Webb Space Telescope has its sights set on seven planets circling a red dwarf star called Trappist-1, about 40 light-years away. One of them, Trappist-1e, may have temperatures warm enough to allow water on its surface, key to supporting life.

The telescope’s data suggests that if the planet has an atmosphere, it’s not dominated by hydrogen or carbon dioxide and hostile to life. Starlight patterns observed near the planet are consistent with those of a nit

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