As promising new discoveries are made in the health sciences, the telephone game begins. Scientists put their best foot forward when presenting their results. The public relations department at their institute further digests their findings and adds a dash of hype. Journalists amplify and simplify, social media influencers garble the message, and start-ups capitalize on the hype to sell unproven…

As medicine uses more and more complex tools to treat illness, I worry that these newer interventions will be seen as impenetrable black boxes. A pill is easy to understand, but gene therapy? There is a simple story to tell about gene therapy. Your body has a defective gene. Doctors will give you the correct version of the gene and the disease will go away. It’s like being unhappy with your wall…