August 2026 Newsletter

This summer, our team has been focused on new opportunities for raising awareness and sparking conversation about genetic technologies with Boston communities. 

In July, we were excited to bring together an inspiring group of artists, scientists, educators, faith and community leaders, and local changemakers at the Boston Museum of Science to co-imagine new ways of gathering around genetics—of, for, and by the community.

From a hands-on DNA activity to Everyday Boston’s “story share” experience and powerful storytelling and reflective moments, we explored how our collective wisdom can shape science. Together, we imagined new community-centered science events and partnerships rooted in Boston’s neighborhoods. 

Thank you to everyone who contributed to and participated in the workshop! We’re looking forward to building on your creativity and insights. 

Gill chatted with Stephen Klusza to learn about his professional mission to enhance inclusion in science education, shaped by his personal experience with disability in science.

Here are some of the articles we’ve been reading this month.

Article: The quest to save Grace — and clear the way for rare disease patients everywhere (STAT). “A father’s decade-long, $70 million pursuit of a gene therapy for his daughter’s ultra-rare NGLY1 deficiency has treated 10 patients but left his company out of money, setting up a pivotal test for regulators and for the future of rare disease drug development.”

Article: The Unknown Universe Inside Your Gut (The New York Times Magazine). “The human microbiome is essential to our health, but scientists have only begun to understand why, as new fieldwork reveals that there is no single ‘normal’ gut and that our bacteria are profoundly shaped by culture, diet, and environment.”

Article: This Lifesaving Genetics Tool Works Best if You’re White (The New York Times). “Genetic prediction models are poised to revolutionize medicine. But because they have been trained on European DNA, they threaten to widen health care disparities.”

Article: 9/11 victim identified using first-of-its-kind genetic genealogy technique (ABC News). “New York authorities have used forensic genetic genealogy for the first time to identify a victim of the September 11 attacks.”

Article: Female clones created from the blood of male mice (New Scientist). “Researchers used cloning and CRISPR to create fertile female mice from male genetic material, a technique that could one day have conservation applications.”

Article: We Helped Create A $4 Million Gene Therapy For Our Son. Then We Had To Decide If We Should Give It To Him. (HuffPost). “A family describes pursuing an experimental gene therapy for their son, who has the rare and devastating genetic disorder Cockayne syndrome.”

Article: Snipping a gene to reduce bad cholesterol for life looks possible. Gene editing reduced cholesterol by about 50% in an extremely small sample of patients over a year of follow-up, according to a new research update.

Note: Views expressed in shared articles are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect the views of our organization.

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