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Every year, hundreds of thousands of children worldwide are born with sickle cell disease, a genetic disorder that impacts the hemoglobin molecules in blood. If left undiagnosed and untreated, most affected children will die before reaching the age of five. However, highly accurate diagnostic methods and effective treatment regimens for sickle cell disease have been known for many years, and children who receive early diagnosis and subsequent comprehensive care survive well into adulthood-as evidenced by the tremendous success of universal newborn screening programs in North America and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When I started graduate school, I had no idea that it would take me halfway around the world to a small clinic in Cabinda, Angola, but I'm glad that it did. Since 2011, I have been a part of the team of engineers and clinicians, led by Dr. Sergey Shevkoplyas, working to develop a simple, low-cost, paper-based test for sickle cell disease-a common inherited blood disorder that is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa (Figure S1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For Ashley Zappia (Figure 1), getting her hands dirty was part of her job. Even though she always tried to remain as clean as possible, her work as a nursing aide at a Southern California hospital required a lot of diapering, changing, and other hands-on tasks. She was mostly in the ER, where physical contact with bodily fluids from sick patients was normal. She was careful to wash her hands frequently, even though she almost always wore gowns and gloves with all patients. Every time she left or entered a room, she lathered her hands in hand-sanitizer gel. Just 27 years old, she was young and healthy. On paper, she was at low risk for infection. That?s why, at first, she thought little of a urinary tract infection (UTI) that seemed to appear out of nowhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every year, Doris's primary care physician sends her to see a neurologist to check on her hand tremor, which has increasingly worsened over the past 20 years. Year in and year out, the neurologist asks her to draw a circle on a piece of paper. "The doctor looks at it, says 'Hmm,' and sends me home," Doris explains, adding that she gets no treatment, no recommendations, nothing except a request to schedule next year's appointment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We are in the midst of a CRISPR craze. The last five years have seen the publication of over 1,000 scientific papers, the allocation of millions of research dollars, and the establishment of four start-up companies in the United States alone. Internationally, the genome-editing market, fueled by CRISPR technology, is expected to be worth more than US$3,000 million by 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]