Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Genomics and Government

At the Personalized Medicine Coalition's The Age of Personalized Medicine blog, Sheila Walcoff, who once served as health and science policy counselor to former Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, considers the impact that the dissolution of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society could have on the "promise of personalized medicine." Current HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and her constituents, Walcoff says, are "losing a medium in which Administration policy could be addressed with substantial public and private sector input," though she's confident a new group of advisors will take the place of SACGHS because "with issues as broad and technical as genomics, and a government as big as ours, current and future government leaders will benefit from a critical base of advisors."

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.