Photograph by Kevin A. Roberts
Nearly four years ago, in spring 2009, I visited the office of Richard Wilson, director of The Genome Institute at Washington University. He and oncologist Dr. Timothy Ley had recently published results of a groundbreaking study in Nature, announcing they had fully sequenced the genes of a leukemia patient’s cancer cells and healthy cells for the first time ever. Their research revealed a handful of mutations never previously connected with cancer—raising the hope of revolutionizing personalized medicine.
“We haven’t fundamentally changed the way we’ve done things since I was in medical school,” Ley explained, “just fine-tuning, but nothing major in terms of understanding most patients with this disease.”
The year before that, a recent medical-school graduate, Dr. Lukas Wartman, had joined Ley’s lab. Having just endured a bone-marrow transplant and intensive chemotherapy after relapsing in 2008, the leukemia survivor had decided to devote his life to researching cancer. So when Wartman relapsed a second time, in 2011, and it seemed that every option had been exhausted, it was Ley who helped decide to sequence Wartman’s DNA and RNA. The results were staggering, garnering press from the likes of The New York Times and Charlie Rose.
Wartman’s story is just one example of how new technology is changing medicine in St. Louis, though. Read about him and 12 other patients in this month’s cover feature, beginning on p. 69.
As we’re discussing new advances, it’s worth noting a few small ones for SLM. As you flip through this issue, you’ll notice a new section, Spaces, covering home and garden, design, architecture, and real-estate news. Edited by Christy Marshall, the section (p. 45) offers the same quality that readers have come to expect in the pages of our sister publication St. Louis AT HOME. We’ve also tweaked popular departments like Food & Drink and Culture, adding “small bites” from our popular food blog, Relish (p. 154), as well as a guide to local arts and entertainment venues (p. 171). And our website, stlmag.com, recently received a makeover, too, making it easier than ever to navigate.
Yet we’re always looking to improve, and in doing so, we’d like to hear from you. This year, we’ll be hosting a series of lunches at which readers can share likes and dislikes, story ideas, and opinions with the editorial staff. For details, visit stlmag.com/lunch. The best part: Lunch is on us. While this news might not be “miraculous,” we hope the possibility of a free lunch will shatter at least one old-fashioned assumption.
