CRISPR therapy results are promising, but some scientists ask for more data

Fyodor Urnov, a gene-editing expert at the University of California, Berkeley, thinks a CRISPR-based treatment that may have cured more than 70 clinical trial participants of sickle cell disease should be “celebrated no less, let’s say, than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for Covid.” But he and other scientists told STAT’s Jason Mast they question why Vertex, which is developing the therapy, has not released key information on precisely how CRISPR is affecting the DNA of patients in its trials.

Although this kind of molecular data is relatively obscure, it could be important for investigating any adverse effects that might appear years down the road, they say, when the therapy has been given to thousands of patients. Not all scientists agree such information is crucial, and a Vertex spokesperson said the company had done “extensive” work to understand and rule out risks and was confident in its approach. Read more.

Now there's a new Omicron subvariant on top

STAT's Andrew Joseph has been tracking Covid-19 variants and subvariants as they emerge. Here's his latest:

The U.S. appears to have a new dominant coronavirus variant: Updated CDC estimates indicate that the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron now accounts for the majority of Covid-19 infections. Together with a related lineage called BA.4, BA.5 caused a wave of cases in South Africa. But as the two forms of the virus have started spreading elsewhere, including in Europe and the U.S., it's become clear that BA.5 can outcompete BA.4, which accounts for just an estimated 16.5% of cases in the U.S. The two sublineages have practically identical spike proteins, and the FDA last week recommended that vaccine makers add a BA.4/5 component to the shots the companies produce for an anticipated fall booster campaign.

It's expected that BA.5 will fuel more infections at least in some communities in the United States, where documented cases overall had recently plateaued.

Cloning with conservation in mind: Freeze-dried mouse cells produce healthy pups

Remember Dolly the sheep? Meet Dorami the lab mouse. Two years after scientists in Scotland cloned the first mammal from an adult cell, researchers at the University of Hawaii cloned mice from freeze-dried sperm. Now, nearly 25 years later, some of those same researchers have shown that somatic cells — not sperm or eggs — can be used to clone healthy mice, even after being freeze-dried and stored for up to nine months.

The study in Nature Communications opens up new possibilities for something like a "frozen zoo" to capture and perhaps one day reconstitute the hundreds of thousands of species that are being erased from the Earth at catastrophic rates. STAT’s Megan Molteni explains.

Closer look: How to parse long Covid estimates

(adobe)

For many people, it’s hard to imagine that 1 in 5 U.S. adults have long Covid. For others, it’s an undercount. That figure is the CDC’s estimate of who has at least one persistent symptom four weeks after being infected with Covid-19, from brain fog to fatigue to neurological abnormalities affecting heart rate or taste and smell. Like so much in the pandemic, the science is evolving, as are definitions. With the voice of the long Covid patients I’ve talked to for nearly two years ringing in my head, I asked health experts to explain how we should think about the numbers, and prepare for more.

One takeaway: It’s the cruelty of large numbers. Even if the actual prevalence of long Covid is smaller than recent estimates, a small percentage of a large number is a large number. Read more.

Post-Roe fears of prosecution in doctors' offices and concerns for privacy outside them

State laws criminalizing abortion after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision have put physicians under intense scrutiny. And they’re not the only ones. These two STAT stories explore why.

Last week, a patient walked into Julie Rhee’s fertility clinic with pelvic pain getting steadily worse. She had a history of ectopic pregnancies and was showing signs of another one. She needed surgery, and fast. For the first time, Rhee discovered her clinical judgment wasn’t enough. She would have to present her case to a hospital ethics committee. Olivia Goldhill has more.
Outside the doctor’s office, there are fewer protections for digital footprints than for reproductive health data in medical records, vulnerable to legal requests. “If I were in the reproductive health business, I would absolutely be rethinking my platform and how it worked,” said Lucia Savage of Omada Health. Read more from STAT's health tech team, who reached out to two dozen companies that interact with reproductive health data.

Now it's summer: The 41 best books and podcasts on health and science

(alex hogan/stat)

It’s back! Check out the summer book and podcast list for 2022, again curated by STAT’s Sarah Mupo, recapping suggestions from notable people in health and science, including WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan (“Climate Change and the Health of Nations: Famines, Fevers and the Fate of Populations”), author Michael Pollan (“Being You: A New Science of Consciousness”), and reproductive justice scholar Monica McLemore (“Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals”).

And from you: STAT readers from California to the U.K. also share their picks along with STAT staffers. Michael Pollan shows up twice, a TV show sneaked in there, too, and … well, I’m not going to give them all away. Tuck your earbuds, e-readers, hardbacks, paperbacks, and this list into your beach bag.

What to read around the web today

Crowdsourced data on overdoses pinpoints where to help, Kaiser Health News
'Too busy to die': Brain cancer patient and his mom save lives by pushing care in new ways, USA Today
Anebulo Pharma says study supports development of its pill as an antidote for cannabis intoxication, STAT
Congo declares end to latest Ebola outbreak in less than 3 months, Healio
FDA to convene second panel of outside experts to review Amylyx Pharma’s ALS treatment, STAT