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Genetic Testing! The Solution to All Your Parenting Woes!

PZ Myers got sent a link to My Gene Profile — the site's tagline is "Our Technology Spawned from Human Genome Project led by US Scientists. The Industry is Featured by CNN, CBS News." The video there says that their service can discover children's "inborn talents" and, from identifying that, customers' children will be happier and more confident and "parenting problems will disappear." Or as Myers puts it: "What you'll find there is a long video where the lowlife in a suit talks about how your children have in-built genetic biases."

Daniel MacArthur also caught wind of the site. He calls it "the most aggressively bad attempt at a genetic testing product I have ever encountered, coupled with a truly horrific attitude to parenting." He and Myers remind everyone that this is a scam.

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.