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So... It's Not Flat?

Richard Thaler at Edge asks people for their favorite examples of wrong scientific beliefs, such as the world being flat and more. Scripps' Eric Topol responds that in medical school he was taught that one cells differentiated into heart muscle or nerves that they can never regenerate. "Wrong!! Enter the stem cell and regenerative medicine era," he adds. Derek Lowe names the four humors theory of physiology and that bad air caused infectious disease. "To me, the story of science has been the story of augmenting our perceptions, and realizing that they had to be augmented in the first place" Lowe says.

HT: Discoblog

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.