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The Lego Lab

Lego is introducing a whole set of female scientist figurines this summer, the Guardian reports. These minifigures, which will be part of a 'research institute' box set, are to include an astronomer, a chemist, and a paleontologist.

The toy company introduced its first female scientist figurine — Professor C. Bodin — last fall and before that had been criticized for tapping into gender stereotypes.

Ellen Kooijman, a geochemist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, submitted the proposal for these figurines to the company's Lego Ideas program, the Los Angeles Times says.

"As a female scientist I had noticed two things about the available Lego sets: a skewed male/female minifigure ratio and a rather stereotypical representation of the available female figures," Kooijman writes on her blog. "It seemed logical that I would suggest a small set of female minifigures in interesting professions to make our Lego city communities more diverse."

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.