Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Chemical Tour De Force, Scientists Announce They've Essentially Doubled The Genetic Alphabet
The New York Times: DNA Gets A New — And Bigger — Genetic Alphabet
In 1985, the chemist Steven A. Benner sat down with some colleagues and a notebook and sketched out a way to expand the alphabet of DNA. He has been trying to make those sketches real ever since. On Thursday, Dr. Benner and a team of scientists reported success: in a paper, published in Science, they said they have in effect doubled the genetic alphabet.Natural DNA is spelled out with four different letters known as bases — A, C, G and T. Dr. Benner and his colleagues have built DNA with eight bases — four natural, and four unnatural. They named their new system Hachimoji DNA (hachi is Japanese for eight, moji for letter). (Zimmer, 2/21)
The New York Times: China Uses DNA To Track Its People, With The Help Of American Expertise
The authorities called it a free health check. Tahir Imin had his doubts. They drew blood from the 38-year-old Muslim, scanned his face, recorded his voice and took his fingerprints. They didn’t bother to check his heart or kidneys, and they rebuffed his request to see the results. “They said, ‘You don’t have the right to ask about this,’” Mr. Imin said. “‘If you want to ask more,’ they said, ‘you can go to the police.’” (Wee, 2/21)
Stat: Genetic Testing For All Breast Cancer Patients? A Specialist's View
Earlier this month a team of researchers from Tulane University and the genetic testing company Invitae called for all men diagnosed with prostate cancer to get tested. And last week the American Society of Breast Surgeons recommended that all patients diagnosed with breast cancer get offered genetic testing. By contrast, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network — an alliance of top cancer centers — recommends genetic testing just for cancer patients of certain ages and those who have a family history. (Robbins, Garde and Feuerstein, 2/22)
