On December 8th, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved two gene therapy treatments for Sickle cell disease (SCD).1 This is the first time gene therapies have been approved as a potential treatment, marking a breakthrough in medical advancements. This also marks huge strides in the treatment of SCD. Previously, symptoms could be treated, […]
Category: Science
ProSPER Fall 2023 Book Club Recap
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Lack of Narrative: How Science Communication Fails the General Public Book Summary: Plastics by Imari Walker-Franklin and Jenna Jambeck provides a comprehensive introduction to the life cycle of plastics—from fossil fuel refinement, the breakdown of these plastics into micro and nanoplastic particles, to the discovery of these particles in human beings. The authors describe how […]
Revisiting the Moon: The Future of Artemis
NASA has been very active in recent news, launching the uncrewed Artemis I mission in November 2022 [1], and announcing on April 3rd, 2023 the names of the four crew members who will fly around the Moon on the Artemis II mission in late 2024 [2]. Among the selected crew members are the first US […]
Policy Memo: Motor Vehicle Crash Testing Regulations for More Inclusive Populations
In April 2021, two teams of ProSPER members participated in the National Science Policy Network‘s policy memo competition. This is the memo by Hannah Frye, Daphne Ko, Emilee Kotnik, and Nathan Zelt; the memo by Adrienne Brauer, Ananya Benegal, Kayla Hannon, Jessica Kuppan, and Sarah Speck can be found here. This memo won third place in the […]
Policy Memo: Improving Maternal and Infant Health in St. Louis Through Nutrition Access
In April 2021, two teams of ProSPER members participated in the National Science Policy Network‘s policy memo competition. This is the memo by Adrienne Brauer, Ananya Benegal, Kayla Hannon, Jessica Kuppan, and Sarah Speck; the memo by Hannah Frye, Daphne Ko, Emilee Kotnik, and Nathan Zelt can be found here. Executive Summary The city of […]
Dissemination and Implementation Science: An alternative post-doctoral career option
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One of most dreaded question you can ask a PhD student is, “what are you going to do after you graduate?” There are many career paths one can take with a PhD, both within and outside of academia, but how to navigate which one to pursue? It is estimated that only 14% of evidence-based research will […]
Policy Memo: Prohibiting Unnecessary Use of Antibiotics in Food-Producing Animals
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In April 2020, two teams of ProSPER members participated in the National Science Policy Network‘s policy memo competition. This is the memo by Ananya Benegal, Kevin Blake, and Lauren Koenig; the memo by Hannah Frye, Emilee Kotnik, and Rachel Rahn can be found here. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Antibiotics are the foundation of the modern healthcare system, […]
Policy Memo: Genetic Privacy Consumer Protections
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In April 2020, two teams of ProSPER members participated in the National Science Policy Network‘s policy memo competition. This is the memo by Hannah Frye, Emilee Kotnik, and Rachel Rahn; the memo by Ananya Benegal, Kevin Blake, and Lauren Koenig can be found here. Executive summary Direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies have become increasingly popular in […]
The Search for Mental Health Biomarkers
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A patient coming into the emergency room with chest pain and nausea could be suffering from a myriad of conditions—something as minor as indigestion or as severe as a heart attack. It is important to quickly diagnose them, but thankfully there is a blood test that that can tell if the patient is having a […]
Guide to Voting and Poll-Working in 2020
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It’s that time of year again and voter registration deadlines are coming up fast! We have compiled a list of resources and guides for voting in-person, absentee, and mail-in voting in Missouri and Illinois. If you are registered in another state, we also provide links to non-partisan resources for all states. This election is expected […]
Environmental Rollbacks in the Trump Era: Why we need serious policy interventions
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A recent New York Times analysis reports that the Trump Administration is in the process of rolling back at least 95 different environmental laws and regulations. Many of these rollbacks target Obama- and even Clinton-era rules that were mandated to mitigate climate change and curb ecological pollution. Out of the 95 rollbacks, 58 have been […]
Federal Restrictions on Access to Fetal Tissue Threaten Medical Research
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On June 5th, the Trump administration announced extreme restrictions on lifesaving medical research. Under the administration’s new policy, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been forced to halt any research that utilizes human fetal tissue acquired from elective abortions. Additionally, funding for this type of research has become far more difficult for scientists […]
“Necessity” of Red Tape Handcuffs Scientists
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Before coming to WashU, I was a PhD student in Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), a premier research institute in India. Being a fifth-year student, I was working with a tight deadline and could not wait to finally begin collecting data. But life as a researcher is not so easy and straightforward. I […]
Genetics, Genealogy, and Personal Privacy
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On TV, DNA evidence is portrayed as a slam-dunk way to pin a suspect to a crime. But what if you have DNA, but no suspect? In April 2018, Joseph James DeAngelo, better known as the “Golden State Killer,” was arrested over 30 years after committing burglaries, rapes, and murders that terrorized Californians. This arrest was […]
It’s a Microbe’s World
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I worked nearly every summer of my teenage years at a summer camp for Cub Scouts. On the first night of each new session the staff would officially welcome everyone by hosting an “Opening Campfire.” The campers and their families would gather on wooden benches set before a stage on the edge of the lake, […]
On the Origins of “The March of Progress”
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The image is iconic: A lineup of six figures. At the rear is an ape-like figure, crouched-over and walking on all fours. Ahead of it is a similar-looking figure, but one who’s walking on two feet. This trend continues, with each successive figure becoming a little taller, a little less hunched, and little less hairy […]
CRISPR-edited Babies Scandal Highlights Inconsistent International Policy
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On November 25, news broke that a Chinese scientist, Dr. He Jiankui, had allegedly produced the first CRISPR-edited babies, twin girls named Lulu and Nana. This set off a firestorm within the international scientific community. He has been accused of violating numerous scientific conventions, ethical safeguards, and the global consensus on human germline gene modification. The scandal has been described […]
Primer: Vaccine Policy
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The administration, distribution, and safety of vaccines are regulated through multiple federal agencies as well as through state-level statutes. Two main bodies oversee administration and safety of vaccines: the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee in the FDA (FDA VRBPAC) and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in the CDC (ACIP). The FDA VRBPAC […]
Puzzle Pieces
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One of the most pressing tasks for scientists of any era is the reconciliation of research with the public good. This call must be answered both socially, by an understandable dialogue between academia and society, and cautiously, with a careful eye on the relevance of our work. Socially, science speaks its own language. Today’s scientific […]