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A team led by Matthew Meyerson (ӳý, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute), Ramaswamy Govindan (Washington University School of Medicine), and first author Joshua Campbell (ӳý, Dana-Farber) performed exome sequencing on hundreds of samples of two of the most common lung cancer types: lung adenocarcinoma and lung squamous cell carcinoma. Appearing in , the work revealed that the two share only a handful of mutated genes, so targeted therapies must be tailored for each type. The analysis also found that in both cancer types, around half of tumors had several “neoepitopes” — bits of protein discoverable by the immune system — suggesting that immunotherapy approaches could be successful in many lung tumors. Read more in the  and .

Duane retraction syndrome (DRS) is a congenital eye-movement disorder that hinders outward gaze and causes retraction of the eye on attempted inward gaze. A new study from a team led by Elizabeth Engle of Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the ӳý has identified and analyzed four mutations linked to the syndrome. The findings, published last week in the , demonstrate that the disease can be successfully studied in mouse models, and offer new clues to how the disease develops.

Working with pre-clinical models for multiple sclerosis (MS) and samples from MS patients, a team led by ӳý associate member Francisco Quintana of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School found that diet and gut bacteria may influence the activity of astrocytes – star-shaped glial cells in the brain and spinal cord involved in controlling inflammation and neurodegeneration. The work, which was reported in , suggests potential new therapies for MS. Read more in , , and the .