Enzo Biochem has appointed Rebecca Fischer to its board of directors, effective immediately. Her appointment as an independent director follows a process as part of the company's focus on board compositions, refreshment, and diversity. Fisher's appointment, Enzo said, will be a valuable contribution to its women's health business. She replaces Gregory Bortz who retired from the board. Dov Perlysky, who has been on the board since 2012, will replace Bortz as lead independent director of Enzo. 

Fisher has been appointed to Enzo's audit, compensation, and nominating/governance committees and will be chair of the audit committee. She is currently CFO of Bellevue Hospital. She began her career there in 2003 and was promoted to deputy CFO in 2016 before becoming CFO in 2017.

A Chinese court has sentenced He Jiankui and two others to three years in jail for editing the genomes of infants as embryos.

The Deseret News reports on an effort in Utah to prevent "dragnet-style" searches of consumer genetic databases.

A number of genomics studies made headlines in the 2010s and more are predicted to do so in the coming year.

In PLOS this week: improved imputation, evolution of Vibrio cholerae isolates from recent outbreak, and more.

The drug is approved as a maintenance treatment for platinum-responsive metastatic pancreatic cancer patients with germline BRCA1/2 mutations.

ScienceInsider reports the choice of Sethuraman Panchanathan as National Science Foundation director underscores the increasing ties between the agency and the White House.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that an investigation into foreign ties is being launched following the departure of the CEO, a vice president, and four researchers from the Moffitt Cancer Center.

The Guardian reports GlaxoSmithKline is seeking to bolster its use of artificial intelligence in drug development.

The company plans to make its PRS offering, currently used only in those who test negative for gene mutations, an option for all customers of European ancestry.

Run by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, SPARK has already grown to more than 220,000 participants from 75,000 families living in the US.

The firm had received interest from unnamed potential acquisition partners following the departure of its CEO, but it has decided to remain as a standalone business.

According to Yahoo News, the Pentagon is warning members of the military that direct-to-consumer DNA testing kits might raise security risks.

Researchers have made gene-edited tomatoes that grow in bunches like grapes, as Popular Mechanics reports.

The Wall Street Journal reports on a family whose BRCA mutation was downgraded to a variant of uncertain significance.

In PNAS this week: gene-edited mouse model of small cell lung cancer, cystic fibrosis carrier-related conditions, and more.

Nature News reports that ancient DNA researcher Alan Cooper has been dismissed from the University of Adelaide after an investigation into bullying.

The Guardian reports that parents of children with spinal muscular atrophy are concerned about a plan to have a lottery for free gene therapy doses.

According to NHK, Japan's health ministry has announced a new plan to analyze genomic data from more than 90,000 patients.

In PLOS this week: loci linked to vitamin D metabolism, rapid diagnostic for Chagas disease, and more.

The two companies had worked closely together since Parabricks spun out of the University of Michigan in 2015 and entered the Nvidia accelerator program.

Roche will pay Codexis royalties under a worldwide license to include EvoT4 DNA ligase in next-generation sequencing products and workflows.

The budget for fiscal year 2020 includes increases for each of the NIH's institutes and centers, as well as the FDA and the NSF.