STAT
Can a blood test lead to more precise treatments for lung cancer patients?
Could a blood test help more lung cancer patients get drugs that are targeted to the genetic weaknesses of their ...
‘Genetic crapshoot’: Two studies suggest clinical use of CRISPR hampered by off-target editing
The version of CRISPR whose selling point has been its precision suffers, ironically, from the same shortcoming that has dogged ...
Can vaccines be supercharged by CRISPR, creating ‘one-and-done’ virus protection?
Vaccines are risky or ineffective in people with compromised immune systems, they don’t even exist for several viral diseases, and ...
This small startup wants to change FDA clinical trials by making control groups unnecessary
Could a startup founded by two guys in their 20s change the way medical researchers study patients? The Food and ...
US government’s BOLD initiative seeks to close the African-American Alzheimer’s gap
Alzheimer’s is a public health crisis for which Congress has thankfully put aside its differences long enough to pass the ...
Pioneering ‘refugee’ from gene therapy’s darker days ‘kept the faith’
Gene therapy, now a pillar of biotechnology with the potential to cure deadly diseases, was once a cautionary tale of ...
Did China’s government fund the controversial ‘CRISPR babies’ experiment?
Three government institutions in China, including the nation’s science ministry, may have funded the “CRISPR babies” study that led to ...
‘Genome profiling’—not gene editing—could offer easiest path to smarter babies
For the foreseeable future, editing embryos to enhance IQ is a sci-fi fantasy. A different approach aimed at enhancing IQ ...
Esketamine could soon be approved for depression, prompting ‘excitement and hesitation’
The Food and Drug Administration is expected to decide in the coming weeks whether to approve esketamine, which would become the ...
Rethinking cancer care: Home-based treatments may be right around the corner
Imagine having cancer and being told that most of your treatment will happen in your home instead of a high-tech ...
Viewpoint: It’s time for a debate on precision medicine and its failed promises
Although some niche applications have been found for precision medicine, and gene therapy is now becoming a reality for a ...
Shortcomings of new cystic fibrosis treatments illustrate the complexity of some genetic diseases
Josh Hillman, a 23-year-old Harvard Law student from Alabama, has cystic fibrosis, the progressive genetic disease that causes frequent lung ...
Researchers launch quest to understand why mental health treatments do or don’t work
Successful mental health treatments can function like a conversation: The brain hears some kind of message — whether it’s from ...
CRISPR-based drugs face tricky manufacturing problem
There are two key challenges in delivering a CRISPR-Cas9 therapy so it is effective in the body: It must be ...
Viewpoint: Human gene-editing ethics should not ‘be left to scientists alone’
There is one important takeaway from the controversy [about He Jiankui’s gene-edited babies] that seems to have gone overlooked in ...
Controversial brain preservation company Nectome seeks second, more ethical, chance
Robert McIntyre would like to get a few things straight. That “waiting list” of people plunking down $10,000 to have ...
Precision medicine for dogs? Silicon Valley startup wants to make it happen
When pet dogs are diagnosed with cancer, they typically get surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation — that is, of course, if ...
How your history with the flu could shape your body’s response to vaccines
If you’ve ever gotten a flu shot — and then, later that season, gotten the flu — you were more ...
Questions arise over US scientist’s role in CRISPR baby controversy
An American scientist at Rice University was far more involved in the widely condemned “CRISPR babies” experiment than has previously ...
‘CRISPR babies’ prompt review of international gene-editing guidelines: They ‘were not clear enough’
Less than two years after producing an exhaustive report on human genome editing, the U.S. National Academy of Medicine and the National ...
Improving personalized medicine may demand more diversity in clinical trials
Hispanic Americans have higher levels of diabetes and less access to health care services, yet they live on average about ...
Viewpoint: We’re letting bureaucracy get in the way of diagnostic innovation
Should we be making it easier for companies to bring new tests to market, rather than having a process that ...
International treaty could threaten genetics research on ebola, other infectious diseases
There is something that is weighing heavily on the minds of some infectious diseases scientists these days. ... It’s an ...
‘Family duty’ could explain why so many Chinese couples signed up for controversial ‘CRISPR baby’ experiment
Young adults in China feel a powerful cultural obligation to marry and have kids, but that life plan suddenly looks ...
Algorithm identifies genetic mutations with just a photo
Some people’s faces — or even just a photo of them — hint at the genes they carry. And now, ...
New cousin to deadly Ebola virus discovered in bats in China
The notorious filovirus family — which includes such dangerous actors as the Ebola and Marburg viruses — seems to just keep ...
Controversial Chinese gene-editing scientist downplays reports suggesting he could face death penalty
The Chinese scientist who shocked the world in November by announcing that twin girls had been born from embryos that he had created ...
Do we really need a more potent, and more addictive, opioid?
In the midst of a national opioid crisis, how badly do we need another formidable painkiller? This vexing question has ...
