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So Many Omes

James Gorman announces in The New York Times that "the age of 'omes' is here." The culprit for the spread of omes — from proteome to microbiome and, now, the omome — is genome, a word that he traces back to Hans Winkler in 1920 — but that didn't take off until the 1990s or so. "Various experts had differing ideas on where the suffix came from, but it seems to be one that was made up," Gorman says. "In any case, it clearly meant the totality of something." He adds that he likes the idea the omome — "the ome of all the omes" — which may be fun though not practical to study.

Some of the new words, however, have had the misfortune of receiving Jonathan Eisen's "Worst New Omics Award" — an honor he most recently bestowed upon the "sexome."

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.