The successful transplant of a gene-edited pig kidney into a human patient has raised hopes that cutting-edge technology can make pig organs safe for other patients.

Towana Looney, a 53-year-old grandmother from Alabama whose (only) kidney was failing, is hopeful of "a new chance at life" after undergoing the still-experiment procedure, said NBC News.

What does gene editing do?
The goal of gene editing is to "bridge the species gap" and "keep the human immune system from immediately attacking the foreign tissue", said The Independent.

Multiple companies are already "engineering pigs to be more humanlike" for optimal organ-transplant suitability, said The Associated Press. These engineered pigs could "someday provide an unlimited supply of kidneys, livers, hearts, and other organs" for human transplantation, alleviating the current "chronic shortage" and saving "thousands of patients every year", said NPR.

What is the legal status of animal-organ transplants?
No specific legislation prohibits xenotransplantation – the transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another – in the UK, but there are animal welfare laws that touch on the issue. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can permit "compassionate-use" xenotransplants for patients who would not be able to receive a human donor organ in time to save their life.

What are the risks?
The current "series of one-off experiments", each using "different protocols, organs with different gene edits, and patients who have run out of options", is "not a great way to do science", L. Syd M Johnson, a bioethicist at SUNY Upstate Medical University in New York, told NPR.

Nor is it clear if enough is being done "to prevent the spread of pig viruses to people", according to Johnson. It is "impossible to predict what the public-health implications might be" if that happens.

What next?
Following the success of Looney's operation, two companies are hoping to get FDA permission to "begin the world's first clinical trials" in 2025, said The Independent. Even then, "it will take years of clinical trials to prove whether xenotransplantation really could work", said AP. But if it does, "porcine technology" companies envisage large facilities, "capable of producing up to 2,000 organs a year, in several places around the country".

Sometimes "obnoxious and tacky" but also "kind of wholesome", said CNN, Christmas jumpers are a key part of the holiday season. Yet while festive pulleys are now as much a feature of Christmas parties as injudicious encounters under the mistletoe, they are a relatively recent trend. 

'Uncomely cheer'
Christmas-themed jumpers "started making an appearance" in the US in the 1950s, "a nod perhaps to the holiday's growing commercialisation", said the news network. Then known as "jingle bell sweaters", they "found little popularity in the market" but were "embraced" by TV "crooners" such as Val Doonican and Andy Williams.

The novelty garments finally "hit the mainstream" in the 1980s, when "goofball dad characters" in movies like "National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation" transformed them into an "uncomely but endearing expression of cheer". They might not have been "cool" but they "radiated yule", and were "sported at office parties" and on Christmas Day.

During the 1990s, however, Christmas jumpers "faded in popularity", and by the turn of the millennium they were "widely considered" an "eyebrow-raising sartorial mishap".

Ironic abominations
"Knitwear historians" view 2001 hit movie "Bridget Jones's Diary" as a "turning point" for Christmas jumpers, said The Telegraph, as "humour and desirability gained the edge over naffness". The reindeer sweater sported by Colin Firth's character Mark Darcy may have been ugly, but his willingness to wear such an abomination because it was knitted by his mother told the viewer that he was a "good chap". Soon, Christmas jumpers were "everywhere", having "finally shed the slippery skin of naffness, and irony". In 2007, Stella McCartney released a polar bear-themed jumper, and fellow fashion giants Givenchy and Dolce & Gabbana followed suit.

But Christmas jumpers still have their critics. "No one with style", or even "the most basic standards of human decency", is wearing a jumper "with bells on it", said Anna Murphy, fashion director at The Times. To do so is a "nigh-on criminal act". For "reasons that may well need collective psychoanalysis", men are "far more likely to embrace" the Christmas jumper, but there are "far better ways to let off sartorial steam" – including the "radical notion" of "wearing something you look really great in".

The novelty of free days and a lack of routine between Christmas and New Year can begin to pall. The answer? Liven up your "Twixmas" – a portmanteau of "betwixt" and "Christmas" to describe that end-of-year limbo – by planning something fun.

Walk into winter
After the annual over-indulgence is an ideal time to wrap up warm and get outdoors to stretch your legs, enjoy some fresh air and work off some of the festive excesses.

All is bright
Savour the sparkle of the season by visiting a winter light trail, such as Glasgow's Winterfest, running until 5 January, or Edinburgh's Christmas event, until 4 January. Further south, Christmas at Blenheim Palace is on until New Year's Day, with an illuminated trail through the gardens.

Get away from it all
Any time off over Christmas can be a great opportunity for a short break. Alternatively, plan ahead for holidays in 2025, whether your taste and budget runs to long-haul luxury, an all-inclusive European break, or somewhere closer to home.

Head for history
Prise yourself off the sofa and poke around someone else's house with a visit to a National Trust property. You can indulge a passion for history at Tudor sites such as Hever Castle.

Go to a show
Take your seats for a dose of dance or drama, from "A Christmas Carol" retold panto-style and the super-sized musical "Les Misérables" to family-friendly productions like "Mary Poppins".

Forget 'benefit cheats' – £23bn a year is going unclaimed. How do we get that to vulnerable people?
Polly Toynbee in The Guardian
Millions of eligible people aren't "getting their benefits", writes Polly Toynbee. "It's easy to forget that huge numbers of people don't watch the news, don't vote and are unconnected to local services that could help", leaving them unaware of or unable to access what they are entitled to. The "relish for benefit-cheat stories" means we "hear a lot more" about the £6.4 billion lost to benefit fraud than about the £23 billion "missing from the pockets of those who need it most".

Kemi Badenoch has big plans – and they might just work
Katy Balls on the i news site
Could Kemi Badenoch "join the wave of conservative leaders leading the new right" in countries worldwide, wonders Katy Balls. While she has "held off announcing any major policy stances" as head of her party, there's an "awareness" among her "backers" that she "realistically" has "about six months to make her mark". Expect "immigration to feature" in Badenoch's messaging, as she attempts to "repair" the Tory "brand" and "bring in new members, money and supporters".

Why I believe in ghosts and you should too
Debora Robertson in The Independent
This Christmas, I'm "feeling particularly fortunate" to "have a ghost of my own", writes Debora Robertson. Although "I haven't seen" the spectre of the previous owner of our French house, I have "felt" his happy presence. Our family are "not afraid of ghosts", regarding them as "just friends we haven't met yet". So "when my mum said she'd seen a ghost", I was "more curious than alarmed", and now the "house of his heart" has "become the house of my heart".