New gene therapies confront many sickle cell patients with an impossible choice: a cure or fertility

CRISPR-based medicines and other gene therapies have been promoted as a long-awaited salve to the racial injustices endured by generations of sickle cell patients — an opportunity for American society to make racial health reparations. With infertility risks largely unaddressed, some patients and physicians who care for them are left feeling that in our health care system, those lofty promises will be rendered incomplete. Read more.

By Megan Molteni

Molly Ferguson for STAT

Is the flu shot market a slam dunk for mRNA vaccines? Experts aren't so sure

With the heydays of Covid vaccine sales in the rearview mirror, the flu vaccine market, with its antiquated production process that mainly relies on growing viruses in hen's eggs, seems an obvious candidate for a shake-up. Read more.

By Helen Branswell

Ana Ramirez for STAT

Mexico's activist 'companion networks' quietly provide abortion pills and support to U.S. women

These volunteer groups, known as "companion networks," have been quietly sending abortion pills across the border, often to vulnerable people who lack funds or immigration papers, and training volunteers in the U.S. to establish their own companion networks. Read more.

By Olivia Goldhill

More great reads from STAT this week

How sickle cell became the first disease treated by CRISPR
Proposal to protect abortion patients' records faces pushback from Epic, UnitedHealth
Tough road ahead for Bluebird Bio despite FDA approval for sickle cell therapy
'Learning each other's language': FDA, patent office seek to work together to lower drug prices
New England Journal of Medicine reckons with its racist past and complicity in slavery
Opinion: A bold approach to pay for weight loss drugs for everyone who needs them