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But What Do They Cost Outside of Medicine?

A Christmas day post on Slashdot has sparked a lively debate with comments growing ever longer and more boisterous. At issue: an editorial from Nobel winner Joseph Stiglitz, an economist who rails against the concept of drug patents in the British Medical Journal. The anonymous author of the post claims that "in medicine, patents cost lives."

And from the silver lining department: just look at all those lives being saved by the dismal success rate most pharmas are seeing in getting drugs to market.

 

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.