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The Passing of a Visionary

The father of medical genetics, Victor McKusick, died at his home in Towson, Md., on Tuesday. McKusick spent his career at Johns Hopkins University, where he established its medical genetics division and studied the links between genetics and disease, especially Marfan syndrome, dwarfism, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He also catalogued all the human genes associated with disease into a book, Mendelian Inheritance in Man. Over his career, McKusick won many awards, including the 1997 Albert Lasker Award and the 2001 National Medal of Science. He was 86.

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.