When biologist Mary Ann Allen gets an opportunity to study Down syndrome, the disorder her dear childhood friend had, she jumps at the chance, but the results aren't what she expected.

Mary Ann Allen is a Sie post-doctoral fellow at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her work focuses on "genetically encoded suppressors of the deleterious Down syndrome phenotypes and exploring the molecular basis of expression dysregulation in Down syndrome."

This story originally aired on December 23, 2016 in an episode titled “My Friend Lovey.”