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Frustrating, Yes

Mike the Mad Biologist writes on his blog that there's some not so high-quality genome annotation in GenBank. Annotation, he says, hadn’t been the rate-limiting step until recently in sequencing and now that it is, many labs are turning to automated gene prediction software. However, he adds that software correctly calls about 95 percent of genes and that not all labs have check in place to find bad calls. “This is bad for people who want to pull these genomes out of GenBank and study them,” Mike writes. “But this also screws up gene identification of new genomes. High quality gene prediction processes rely on both ab initio rules and previously identified genes from other genomes.”

The Scan

Positive Framing of Genetic Studies Can Spark Mistrust Among Underrepresented Groups

Researchers in Human Genetics and Genomics Advances report that how researchers describe genomic studies may alienate potential participants.

Small Study of Gene Editing to Treat Sickle Cell Disease

In a Novartis-sponsored study in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that a CRISPR-Cas9-based treatment targeting promoters of genes encoding fetal hemoglobin could reduce disease symptoms.

Gut Microbiome Changes Appear in Infants Before They Develop Eczema, Study Finds

Researchers report in mSystems that infants experienced an enrichment in Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Finegoldia and a depletion of Bacteroides before developing eczema.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment Specificity Enhanced With Stem Cell Editing

A study in Nature suggests epitope editing in donor stem cells prior to bone marrow transplants can stave off toxicity when targeting acute myeloid leukemia with immunotherapy.