STAT+: As Bluebird backpedals from Europe, small gene and cell therapy players face tough hurdles
After Bluebird Bio (BLUE) announced plans this week to end commercial operations in Europe, the…
Category: genetics
Gene therapy’s next steps
Editor’s note: A livestream of the event will be embedded below at 1 p.m. ET…
STAT+: Scientists plumbing mysterious RNAs in the human genome find a possible treatment for an inherited disorder
When hundreds of scientists from around the world finally pieced together a draft of the…
Large study finds genetic signals that might be used to predict early menopause
A large new study scanned the genes of hundreds of thousands of women near the…
STAT+: Deep Genomics raises $180 million to automate drug discovery
Brendan Frey, the founder and chief executive of Deep Genomics, thinks the wrong people are…
The baby was gravely ill. Rapid sequencing turned around a diagnosis in 13 hours — and pointed to a treatment
When the boy was brought to the San Diego emergency department one night last October,…
STAT+: Pacific Biosciences to buy smaller DNA sequencing firm for up to $800 million
Pacific Biosciences of California, a maker of DNA sequencing equipment that has seen its stock…
With fewer than 400 progeria patients worldwide, testing a CRISPR cure will be challenging
When Sammy Basso was diagnosed with progeria at 2, it seemed likely that the disease’s…
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Extending the reach of gene therapies means hurdling not just scientific barriers but prices, too
While Covid-19 struck a blow to a vast number of clinical trials around the world,…
World Health Organization advisers urge global effort to regulate genome editing
On Monday, a World Health Organization advisory committee called on the world’s largest public health…
Landmark gene therapy trial points to a wider window to alter course of rare disease
The suspicion that something was wrong started when the 1-year-old girl’s parents noticed she had…
Gene hunters turn up new clues to help explain why Covid-19 hits some people so hard
On March 16, 2020, five days after the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global…
For people in sickle cell crisis, specialized infusion centers offer far better care than the ER, study finds
People with sickle cell disease who were experiencing acute pain crises received far better care…
Researchers raise concerns about using genetic risk scores to pick ‘healthier’ embryos
As more people turn to in vitro fertilization for help with conceiving, a host of…
Could editing the genomes of bats prevent future coronavirus pandemics? Two scientists think it’s worth a try
Amid the devastating Covid-19 pandemic, two researchers are proposing a drastic way to stop future…
With a souped up synthetic genome, scientists make bacteria impervious to viral attack
Two years ago, scientists in Britain swapped out the DNA of the bacteria Escerichia coli…
Researchers claim they have sequenced the entirety of the human genome — including the missing parts
An international team of scientists says it has sequenced the entirety of the human genome,…
STAT+: ‘We shouldn’t leave anybody behind’: Inequities in cancer genomics undercut promise of precision medicine
Translating the promise of cancer genomics into health equity has not yet become a reality,…
STAT+: From two unusual organ donations, scientists garner a unique trove of single-cell genetic data
Late at night, in a California hospital, a brain-dead patient was being prepared to offer…
STAT+: ‘It’s not a cure’: A gene therapy is opening a new chapter for children, but challenges endure
WEST BOYLSTON, Mass. — When Rachael and Pat Brown rattle off all that their daughter…
With engineered proteins, scientists use optogenetics for the first time to help a blind patient see again
Somewhere in Paris, in a white room, seated at a white table, a man wearing…
California could become first state to mandate biosecurity screening by mail-order DNA companies
California lawmakers on Thursday will vote on a bill that would require the state’s growing…
At Illumina, the ‘era of the genome’ has arrived. But what role will the company play?
For Francis deSouza, the CEO of DNA sequencer manufacturer Illumina, the hardest moments of the…
AIDS virus used in gene therapy to fix ‘bubble baby’ disease
A gene therapy that makes use of an unlikely helper, the AIDS virus, gave a…
STAT+: Dutch advisory group says Zolgensma shouldn’t be covered unless Novartis halves price
In a challenge to Novartis (NVS), a Dutch advisory body has recommended that the government…
Listen: Vaccine riches, patent waivers, & a gene therapy for aging
What does $45 billion buy you these days? Is clinical trial tourism a business? And…
Six patients with dementia went to Mexico for an unproven gene therapy, a biotech CEO claims
Six patients with dementia traveled to Mexico last year to be injected with a gene…
HHS to prioritize newborn screening programs’ pipette tip orders
Programs that screen newborns for potentially deadline genetic conditions will now have higher priority when…
STAT+: With $12 million in new funding, data-syncing platform Seqster takes aim at health records
If health tech challenges were mountains, patient medical records would be a kind of Everest,…
STAT+: Beam Therapeutics unveils new CRISPR base editing tool to target the sickle cell mutation
Right now, trillions of donut-shaped red blood cells are whizzing through your arteries, ferrying oxygen…
Opinion: Looking back at 15 years of sharing viral genomes to forge ahead
Anniversaries represent an opportunity for revisiting the past to make a leap forward. I’m using…
Huntington’s community grieves not just one therapeutic setback, but two
For the community of people affected by Huntington’s disease — a group that is no…
Virtual Event: What gene-targeted therapies mean for patients with cancer
Editors note: A livestream of the event will be embedded below at 1 p.m. ET….
Opinion: To stem the pandemic, the U.S. needs a national Covid-19 genomic sequencing effort
More than a year into the pandemic, the United States is at yet another critical…
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STAT+: STAT+ Conversations: A conversation on the future of gene therapy
Editors note: A livestream of the conversation will be embedded below at 1 p.m. ET….
Opinion: Listen: Walter Isaacson on CRISPR rivals and a Covid truce
In this week’s episode of STAT’s “First Opinion Podcast,” I talk with journalist, historian, and…
Novartis and the Gates Foundation aim to create a more practical gene therapy for sickle cell patients around the world
Novartis and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are joining forces to discover and develop…
Studying Neanderthal mini-brains, scientists unlock clues to modern human evolution
Hoping to learn what sets our brains apart from those of the Neanderthals, scientists have…
STAT+: Scientists turn to machine learning to tackle one of gene therapy’s biggest challenges
As the world charges to vaccinate the population against the coronavirus, gene therapy developers are…
‘What other variants might be out there?’ An expert on viral evolution on what’s happening with coronavirus mutations
“Variants” is the latest term to leap from the infectious disease lexicon to the general…
STAT+: 5 burning questions on the business of big genetics based on 23andMe’s filing to go public
It seemed a foregone conclusion: Despite the early popularity of companies offering health and ancestry…
Listen: 23andMe is going public, vaccine data abound, and Merck’s CEO is retiring
Is consumer DNA testing a good business? Are Covid-19 vaccines interchangeable? And how do you…
STAT+: The Pajama Interview: A conversation with Anne Wojcicki and Richard Branson
When consumer genetics firm 23andMe announced Thursday that it will go public through a deal…
23andMe to go public via Richard Branson’s SPAC
The genetics testing company 23andMe will enter the public markets via a special purpose acquisition…
Eric Lander is brilliant, connected, and controversial. Now Joe Biden wants him to ‘reinvigorate’ American science
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden’s presence at meetings of the Obama administration’s scientific advisory council sometimes…
Listen: JPM21: Déjà vu in Alzheimer’s research, debatable valuations in biotech, and OWS’s legacy
Is Alzheimer’s research stuck in a rut? Can genome editing live up to the hype?…
Opinion: Mother Nature is not ‘the ultimate bioterrorist’
Despite the menacing track record of emerging pathogens, “Mother Nature is the world’s worst bioterrorist,”…
CRISPR cures progeria in mice, raising hope for one-time therapy for a disease that causes rapid aging
Biologists tend not to discuss experimental results on a handful of cells and a single…
FDA approves genetically altering pigs, to potentially make food, drugs, and transplants safer
Genetically engineering pigs so they lack a certain sugar on the surface of their cells…
STAT+: Genetic reprogramming rejuvenates nerve cells and restores vision in mice
For years now, biologists have been practicing a kind of time travel. You can take…