GENOMIC RESEARCH

Disparities in Health: Biomedical Research and the Latino Community

Only by making sure that every community’s voice is heard, can we be sure that personalized genetic medicine will truly be personalized.

GENOMICS

Addressing Race and Genetics

Personalized medicine holds great potential to improve the efficacy and reduce the costs of care, but there are major hurdles to ensuring access to this new form of medicine is open to all.

LIFE SCIENCES

The Promise and Dangers of Synthetic Biology

Public policy makers need to manage the risks and rewards of this promising new life sciences industry, particularly with an eye on the global context.

PUBLIC HEALTH

Defining the Boundaries of Genetic Testing

A recently released study by direct-to-consumer genetic testing company 23andMe reveals the privacy challenges ahead for public health policymakers as so-called genome-wide association studies, which look for specific genetic traits in huge genetic databases, enter the mainstream of scientific inquiry. [...]

LIFE SCIENCES

Vision Renewed

A new study points to the possibility that retina cells can be derived from embryonic stem cells, but new regulatory procedures need to be in place to oversee the research going forward.

Bioethical Marching Orders

President Obama wasted no time sending a letter to Amy Gutmann, chair of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, requesting a report on how the administration can support the growth and appropriate governance of synthetic biology. The [...]

FDA Intervention Shelves Plan for Drugstore Genome Tests

Earlier this week, Pathway Genomics was poised to begin selling its Insight genetic test kit at 6,000 Walgreens pharmacies nationwide, but then the Food and Drug Administration put its foot down. On May 10, just after Walgreens and Pathway made [...]

HEALTH CARE

Better Science, Better Health Care

Programs in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will speed development of new cures and boost comparative effectiveness research.

Legislation Introduced to Codify Stem Cell Rules

Last week, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) introduced a bill that would codify the bedrock bioethical safeguards for federally-funded human embryonic stem cell research. These provisions reflect the guidelines that have been in effect at the National Institutes of Health since [...]

Commissioner Enhances FDA’s Commitment to Personalized Medicine

Incorporating personalized medicine into the U.S. health care system is a process rife with complexities, but last week, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg outlined some initiatives aimed at surmounting a few of the primary challenges. At the Sixth Annual Keynote Luncheon [...]

Perfecting Policy on Stem Cells

The National Institutes of Health has a smart and ethical stem cell policy in place, but that doesn’t mean that the agency can’t improve upon the policy once it is put into practice. A new regulatory notice published this week [...]

They’re Not Perfect Cells, But They’re Model Cells

In his final column for Science Progress, Rick Weiss responded to critics of stem cell research who argue that injections of stem cells will never serve as treatments for certain chronic diseases. True enough, Weiss wrote, injections of stem cells [...]

Genomic Medicine on the March

On Thursday, the Secretary’s Advisory Committee for Genetics, Health, and Society at the Department of Health and Human Services will meet to discuss a set of reports on the future of genomic medicine. The meeting will cover a range of [...]

Science Education Progress

Yesterday, President Obama led some much needed pomp and circumstance over STEM education. In a speech at the White House, he emphasized the critical importance of an aggressive commitment to improving our nation’s education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, [...]

More Cells are Good, More Diverse Cells are Better

Eleven of the Bush-era human embryonic stem cell lines are of European origin. Of the 40 lines newly approved by the National Institutes of Health, at least 22 are of European origin. Five of the Bush lines are from two [...]

More Stem Cells Lines Approved, Process Proves Smart

The National Institutes of Health have added 27 more human embryonic stem cell lines to the 13 approved two weeks ago. These new lines come from Harvard University and have some interesting stipulations attached to them that illustrate the diligence [...]

Line Up for the New Lines

Yesterday, the National Institutes of Health approved 13 new embryonic stem cell lines according to the rigorous ethical guidelines that went into effect July 7th. The lines will now be eligible for use in federally funded research. The 15-point rules [...]

Your Commission, Should You Choose to Accept It (And We Do!)

Yesterday President Obama issued an Executive Order establishing the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. The Commission’s Chair will be Amy Gutmann, President of the University of Pennsylvania and a political theorist. Its Vice Chair will be James [...]

GENOMICS

Genetic Testing 101

With new opportunities come questions about how to interpret the avalanche of genetic information and how to protect it from improper use.

United States Takes a Step Towards Isotope Independence

Earlier this month, the House passed a bill that will protect as many as 50,000 nuclear medical procedures a day in the United States. That’s how many procedures rely on nuclear isotopes produced by foreign reactors. The United States has [...]