Opinion: Genetic research provides new clarity about the “whys” of autism
It was an appropriately hazy afternoon on the day my son Dylan, age two years,…
Category: genetics
A team of Oxford and Mexican researchers want to diversify genomic databases. Can they end ‘parachute science,’ too?
MEXICO CITY — Back in 2019, while she worked for the biotech Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Claudia…
STAT+: At pioneering center for gene therapy, Jim Wilson presided over toxic, abusive workplace, staffers say
Scientist Jim Wilson is synonymous with gene therapy — and for good reason. For decades,…
New research digs into the genetic drivers of heart failure, with an eye to precision treatments
When coronary arteries are blocked, starving the heart of blood, there are good medications and…
Opinion: A better understanding of human diversity is needed to equitably advance precision medicine
Precision medicine — tailoring a treatment to an individual’s disease — requires understanding the individual’s…
STAT+: Genomics is racing toward a $100 genome. Are we ready for it?
As the cost of DNA sequencing plummets, we’re fast approaching a point when decoding a…
STAT+: Verve Therapeutics begins human tests of first ‘base editor,’ aiming at heart disease
Somewhere in New Zealand, the first patient ever has been dosed with a kind of…
Opinion: Secrecy: A demon of gene therapy’s past bedevils its future
Twenty-three years ago, the field of gene therapy was bursting with the promise of breakthrough…
STAT+: Beyond a CRISPR treatment’s encouraging results, some scientists see a need for more data on risk
What happens when you CRISPR people? Few questions generated more contentious discussion in biotech in…
Girl’s case of lupus leads to new understanding of a perplexing disease
As a young girl, Gabriela Piqueras wasn’t quite like the other children in her class….
STAT+: Pharmalittle: FDA panel endorses Bluebird Bio gene therapy for rare disease; GSK touts RSV vaccine trial results
And so, another working week will soon draw to a close. Not a moment too…
If Roe is overturned, the ripples could affect IVF and genetic testing of embryos, experts warn
Through their foundation, Allie LaForce and Joe Smith have so far helped families have 17…
Listen: Biotech’s catch-22, a $100 genome, & dealing with monkeypox
Will gene therapy ever live up to expectations? Can anyone break up the genomics monopoly?…
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What the surprising mutations in the monkeypox virus could indicate about the new outbreak
When scientists investigate the spread of an infectious disease, one area they look at is…
Buffalo shooting ignites a debate over the role of genetics researchers in white supremacist ideology
The 18-year-old gunman suspected of carrying out a racist attack that killed 10 and injured…
Opinion: Substituting genetic ancestry for race in research? Not so fast
Race, widely used as a variable across biomedical research and medicine, is an appropriate proxy…
Hundreds of families share a lethal inheritance. This kidney researcher hopes to break the chain
Autumn Steen roiled in the pew of the chapel, Bowditch Union Free Will Baptist Church…
Opinion: It’s time for Congress to stop blocking mitochondrial replacement therapy
Australia has become the second country in the world to explicitly authorize and regulate mitochondrial…
Omicron splinters into fast-spreading lineages, highlighting coronavirus’s evolution
Scientists around the world are discovering and tracking newer forms of the Omicron coronavirus variant,…
STAT+: For patients, seeing the benefits of the new, fully sequenced genome could take years
Genomics has made significant inroads into mainstream medicine — DNA data are now routinely used…
STAT+: New details emerge about a U.S. scientist’s obscured role in the ‘CRISPR babies’ scandal
More than three years after the now-infamous Chinese scientist He Jiankui sent shockwaves around the…
STAT+: Illumina sues Guardant Health, saying former employees stole trade secrets to launch liquid biopsy firm
DNA sequencing giant Illumina is suing Guardant Health, a firm that has become both its…
STAT+: Armed with heaps of cash and a veteran team, an upstart looks to disrupt DNA sequencing
SAN DIEGO — After quietly raising hundreds of millions of dollars and building a team…
First person to receive a pig heart transplant dies after two months
The first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig has died, two months…
Opinion: Rediscovering a language of healing that doesn’t require ‘cure’
I am a biotech investor and entrepreneur. But more central to my worldview is that…
STAT+: With new trial data coming on Monday, Intellia CEO talks up the future of in vivo gene editing
In 1996, 32,655 Americans died from AIDS. A year later, that number was 16,685. The…
Provocative new findings suggest a surprising cause of Down syndrome: cells linked to aging
Down syndrome is the most common genetic disorder, impacting about 1 in 700 newborns around…
STAT+: 3 CRISPR editing innovations to watch in 2022
During the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of the world’s scientists — including…
Opinion: Gain-of-function research advances knowledge and saves lives
Congress is considering a massive overhaul of the nation’s scientific enterprise, much of it in…
How medicine erased Black women from a ‘white man’s disease’
What Christi Taylor-Gentry remembers most about third grade are the times when the teaching stopped…
Q&A: After finding few answers about her own rare cancer, Corrie Painter is crowdsourcing to fill cancer ‘data vacuum’
In May 2010, Corrie Painter received shocking news: She had angiosarcoma, an extremely rare cancer…
STAT+: Mutations tied to blood cancers and other diseases may surprisingly protect against Alzheimer’s
ATLANTA — When key mutations strike bone marrow stem cells, known as hematopoietic stem cells,…
Virus expert Trevor Bedford on annual Covid boosters and the inevitable next pandemic
In January 2020, computational biologist Trevor Bedford told STAT’s Helen Branswell about the then-new coronavirus:…
‘Growing a chair is easy’ and other words of wisdom from the audacious George Church
George Church, the larger-than-life Harvard biologist who pioneered both DNA sequencing and gene editing, is…
Opinion: Personalized medicine goes far beyond genetics
Since the Human Genome Project was completed in 2003, most public considerations of personalized medicine…
Sequencing whole genomes helps diagnose far more rare diseases, study shows
When the U.K.’s National Health Service started to use whole genome sequencing, doctors were able…
STAT+: Centessa drug shows early promise for inherited lung disease, but liver safety issue seen in small study
An experimental “corrector” drug from Centessa Pharmaceuticals normalized the levels of a target protein in…
Public-private partnership launched to accelerate gene therapies for rare diseases
The National Institutes of Health and U.S. Food and Drug Administration unveiled a public-private partnership…
STAT+: Eight years after a landmark Supreme Court ruling on DNA ownership, its ramifications are becoming clearer
Today, if you want to know what scary family health secrets lay buried in your…
STAT+: 3 pressing questions on 23andMe’s pivot into primary care
The genetic testing company 23andMe said Friday it will acquire the telehealth and pharmacy startup…
STAT+: New CRISPR tools could fix diseases caused by large DNA rearrangements, scientists report
Ever since the now Nobel-winning discovery of CRISPR genome editing in 2020, scientists have been…
STAT+: Here’s who might replace Francis Collins as NIH director
WASHINGTON — Almost as soon as Francis Collins announced that he’ll soon step down as…
STAT+: Citing competitive concerns, European Commission seeks to intervene in Illumina’s $8 billion acquisition of Grail
In an unusual step, the European Commission plans to intervene in the recent merger between…
STAT+: STAT+ Conversation: What’s next in gene therapy
Editor’s note: A livestream of the conversation will be embedded below at 1 p.m. ET….
Return of the mammoth? George Church-backed company launches with $15 million for elephant-sized quest
Harvard scientist George Church, a pioneer of both DNA sequencing and gene editing, has been…
STAT+: In another sign of RNA’s growing popularity, the cancer startup Replicate is relaunching
A California startup is putting a new spin on a now-familiar idea: using RNA as…
Never-smokers’ lung cancers are genetically different from smokers’ tumors, study shows
Researchers have identified unique genetic signatures of lung cancer in people who never smoked cigarettes,…
Can parents handle finding out their newborn is at higher risk of certain diseases? A small study suggests they can
There’s a heated debate over whether to expand genomic sequencing to more newborns — especially…
STAT+: A new technology, based on a quirk of evolutionary biology, may be the next big thing for CRISPR
On a chilly morning last November, Michael Segel stepped through the glass doors of the…
STAT+: Discovery of rare mutation in a brain protein adds fuel to debate over cause of Alzheimer’s disease
In 2014, two siblings came to see Lena Kilander about some of the problems they’d…