October 30, 2023

From a Fledgling Genetic Science, a Murky Market for Prediction

(Undark) – The companies commercializing these techniques have largely escaped regulatory scrutiny, despite doubts about the health benefits their analyses can provide and worries about the risks they could pose to customers, health care systems, and society at large. The … Read More

October 30, 2023

FDA Reviewers Question Safety of Sickle Cell Gene Therapy

(MedPage Today) – Whether the investigational sickle cell disease therapy exagamglogene autotemcel (exa-cel) has adequately proven that it won’t produce off-target genetic changes was questioned by FDA reviewers ahead of an advisory committee meeting. The gene-editing CRISPR technology underpinning exa-cel … Read More

October 18, 2023

New Initiative Aims to Sequence Half a Million Genomes of People with African Ancestry for Health Studies

(Science) – An industry-academic initiative announced today aims to create the largest ever database of genomes exclusively from people with African ancestry. Four biopharma companies contributing $80 million have teamed up with Meharry Medical College to launch the effort, which … Read More

October 6, 2023

A New Edition of European Journal of Human Genetics Is Now Available

European Journal of Human Genetics (vol. 31, no. 8, 2023) is available online by subscription only.  Articles include: “Approaching Discussions about Genetics with Palliative Patients and their Families: A Qualitative Exploration with Genetic Health Professionals” by Stephanie White, et al. … Read More

October 2, 2023

Kariko and Weissman Win Nobel Prize in Medicine for Work That Enabled mRNA Vaccines Against COVID-19

(Associated Press) – Two scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries that enabled the creation of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 that were critical in slowing the pandemic — technology that’s also being studied to fight cancer … Read More

September 27, 2023

Gene Therapy Death Was Caused by an Unknown Risk of the Virus Used, Study Suggests

(STAT News) – Last October, a 27-year-old man with Duchenne muscular dystrophy died after receiving a CRISPR-based treatment custom built to treat his particular genetic mutation. Results of a detailed investigation released on Wednesday suggest that the patient, Terry Horgan, … Read More

September 27, 2023

A New Edition of European Journal of Human Genetics Is Now Available

European Journal of Human Genetics (vol. 31, no. 7, 2023) is available online by subscription only.  Articles include: “Underrepresentation of racial and ethnic Minorities in Cascade Testing for Hereditary Cancer Syndromes” by Muhammad Danyal Ahsan, et al. “The Genetic Landscape … Read More