Megan Molteni

Science Writer at STAT

science writer @statnews | formerly @WIRED | she/her | genetic privacy & Crispr tips to [email protected] | DM for signal

Articles

At a major genome editing summit, spotlight turns to the value of human life

1 month ago | statnews.com | Megan Molteni

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — It began, unlike any other international meeting devoted to discussions of powerful DNA-modifying technologies, with a dance. Four neon leotard-clad bodies whirled and contorted, cleaving and helixing across the stage at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in the kinetically charged choreography of DNA strands and CRISPR enzymes caroming around a human cell.
Reeling from Trump contract cuts, the National Academies prepares for ‘a fairly radical downsizing’

1 month ago | statnews.com | Megan Molteni

The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine is headed for a major reorganization as it tries to reduce its overhead amid big losses in funding from the federal government.
Scientists protest White House plan to put political appointees in charge of grant-making

1 month ago | statnews.com | Anil Oza |Megan Molteni

Since taking office, President Trump has vowed to dismantle what he calls the “deep state” and “fire rogue bureaucrats.” His latest attempt to do so has garnered widespread pushback from scientists over concerns that the move will politicize decisions about federal funding for research on a scale never before seen in the U.S. The object of this anger is an Office of Personnel Management proposal that would reclassify broad swaths of federal bureaucrats as political appointees — making their...
Prenatal genetic therapy for SMA shows promise in a mouse study

1 month ago | statnews.com | Megan Molteni

Researchers have taken preliminary steps toward treating a devastating neurodevelopmental disorder, spinal muscular atrophy, with a genetic therapy delivered in the womb, before the worst damage to motor neurons can occur.
Scientific societies call for a moratorium on using CRISPR to create genetically modified children

1 month ago | statnews.com | Megan Molteni

Leading trade organizations representing the makers of cell and gene therapies are calling for a 10-year international moratorium on the use of CRISPR and other DNA-editing tools to create genetically modified children, according to a draft of the declaration provided to STAT.
Appeals court reopens the question of who owns patents for groundbreaking CRISPR discovery

1 month ago | statnews.com | Megan Molteni

The now 13-year-long legal saga over who invented CRISPR took yet another unexpected turn on Monday, in a ruling that could not only change U.S. ownership of patent rights to the groundbreaking gene-editing technology but more broadly redefine how the law determines when an invention has been made.
From pandemic preparedness to precious frozen spit, NIH contract terminations cut deep

1 month ago | statnews.com | Megan Molteni |Jason Mast

Jay Tischfield prides himself on his long track record of cellular custodianship. As the founding director of the Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey at Rutgers University, he maintains one of the largest university-based DNA banks in the world — much of it, on behalf of the U.S. government.
Overseas grants could be ‘closed down’ by NIH under new policy, internal email suggests

1 month ago | statnews.com | Megan Molteni

A National Institutes of Health policy change on funding of foreign scientists is far more sweeping than described in a Thursday announcement, according to an internal email that indicates international clinical trials and other research will be strictly vetted going forward.
NIH halts funding for new projects with foreign collaborators, citing national security concerns

1 month ago | statnews.com | Megan Molteni

The National Institutes of Health announced Thursday it will no longer allow subawards to foreign institutions, as part of a national security-minded overhaul to how the agency manages its $47 billion research funding portfolio. The change is likely to cause immediate disruptions to research projects around the world. “Subawards” are NIH funds that a grant recipient can give another organization to carry out a specific piece of the project.
NIH grants plummeted $2.3 billion in Trump’s first months, as federal-academia partnership crumbles

2 months ago | statnews.com | Megan Molteni |J. Emory Parker |Jonathan Wosen

The National Institutes of Health has scaled back its awards of new grants by at least $2.3 billion since the beginning of the year, with the biggest shortfalls hitting the study of infectious diseases, heart and lung ailments, and basic research into fundamental biological systems, a new STAT analysis has found.

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