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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Wins The Pulitzer

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Jane Clayson in for Tom Ashbrook.

Reporters from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel just won a Pulitzer for their story on genetic sequencing and a young boy fighting for his life. They join us.

Nicholas Volker. Photo: Gary Porter
Nicholas Volker, 5, of Monona, Wis. holds tight to the arms of his mother and a nurse. (Photo: Gary Porter, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.)

When Nicholas Volker was just 17 months old something went wrong. Doctors found pin prick-sized holes in his intestines. Waste leaked into his abdomen.

One In A Billion Web Site
"One In A Billion" Web Site

Hundreds of surgeries later and still, no diagnosis. No cure.

Then, a cutting edge idea - mapping Nicholas' DNA. A technology before it's time, but Nicholas' last hope.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel won a Pulitzer this week for its series on Nicholas and the genetics which might save his life. But plenty of emotion and ethical questions attached.

This hour a conversation about technology on the cutting edge and one boy's life.

See videos and photos from The Journal Sentinel's award winning series.

Guests:

Mark Johnson, medical reporter for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and winner of the Pulitzer prize for the series "One in a Billion: A Boy's Life, a Medical Mystery."

Kathleen Gallagher, business reporter for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and and winner of the Pulitzer prize for the series "One in a Billion: A Boy's Life, a Medical Mystery."

Howard Jacob, professor of physiology and human and molecular genetics at The Medical College of Wisconsin and director of the Human and Molecular Genetics Center.

This program aired on April 21, 2011.

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