Medical Regs & Ethics
Only need four hours of sleep per night? New-found ‘Thatcher’ gene mutation may explain why
Do you have a friend who can get by on just a few hours of sleep without any ill effects? ...
Cancer genomes to enter private practice
New technology promises quick turn around for cancer genome testing, but do we understand tumor DNA well enough to capitalize? ...
‘Quack’ American Academy of Environmental Science issues false statements about GMO safety
I write in response to Donna Worden’s letter of July 12. I was surprised by the citing of the American Academy ...
GMO tobacco ‘mystery serum’ rescues Ebola virus victims
Two American healthcare workers infected with Ebola virus in Liberia received an experimental antibody serum created with genetically engineered tobacco ...
Scientist delaying own treatment to advance breast cancer research
Mother, grandmother, and biomedical scientist Kimberly Koss of Ohio is battling a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer, called ...
UK genetics research making strides in cancer and rare disease treatment
Prime Minister David Cameron has said it "will see the UK lead the world in genetic research within years." The ...
Minnesota statute permits long-term storage of babies’ genetic information
Minnesota's newborn screening program is again storing newborn screening data indefinitely. A law passed during the legislative session removes a ...
10,000 hours of practice leads to mastery? That’s not what our genes say.
Talent, as encoded in our genes, may mean more than practice when it comes to mastery. Identical twins who practiced ...
How much of human DNA is doing something?
How much of the human genome is functional? Depends on what you mean by "functional." Two studies that seem to ...
Genome sequencing on way to clinical use in treating cancer
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) not only continues to make steady advances in the molecular diagnosis of cancers, it also seems to fit ...
Harmful GMO insulin meme illustrates how ‘deadly’ anti-GMO movement can be
What happens when a tabloid-respect-for-the-truth meets a life-saving breakthrough in medical technology? You’d get something like this: Chances are you ...
Stem cell research sheds light on weakening of aging immune system
There's a good reason people over 60 are not donor candidates for bone marrow transplantation. The immune system ages and ...
Addressing ethical questions in pregnancy, genetic disease and baby traits
When Kira Walker was born, on June 13, 2013, her parents and doctors knew she might have health issues. Her ...
‘Big Oil’ can’t ‘buy’ science organizations on climate change, neither can Monsanto on GMOs
Would you eat a plant that makes its own toxic pesticides, contains DNA from viruses and bacteria, sports genes that ...
Over-active immune proteins possible links between depression and dementia
The link between depression and dementia is puzzling for researchers. Many studies have noticed a correlation between the two diseases ...
Tuskegee anniversary, bioethics then and now
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was an infamous clinical study that began in 1932, conducted by the Public Health Service at the Tuskegee ...
Gene linked to suicide may predict risk, spark pre-emptive treatment
A gene tied to negative thoughts and impulses may lead to a blood test predicting suicide risk, according to researchers ...
Talking about genetic disorders: How much information do we need—or want?
It may be easy to dismiss appeals to scientific literacy as high-minded, idealistic and impractical; but geneticist Morgan Thompson believes ...
Temporary mutations may allow organisms to adapt to sudden changes in environment
Scientists from the Duke University School of Medicine say that they discovered that microorganisms can use a temporary silencing of drug targets, ...
Protein linked to obesity, diabetes risk
A protein that controls when genes are switched on or off plays a key role in specific areas of the ...
Surrogacy is global business, but loose laws leave murky situation for all involved
Demand and affordability have forced many potential parents to seek surrogacy through international clinics in India, Thailand and Mexico. But ...
Can we regulate gene editing without killing it?
CRISPR and other gene-editing methods, plus gene drives, are suddenly here and now. They offer unprecedented possibilities for genetic modification ...
Epigenetics can drive cancer, may be target for new treatments
The first direct evidence that epigenetics alone -- tweaks to gene expression -- can drive cancer in mice demonstrates that ...
Oregon GMO labeling measure ‘misleads rather than enlightens’
Labels can inform or mislead. Our marketplace is literally drowning in labels, most of which have little meaning except to ...
Google wants to define health using Big Data
Google's getting in on the big-genome-analysis game with the "Baseline Project," which seeks to examine gather information (genomic and otherwise) ...
Newly discovered virus modulates bacteria in gut, aids immune system
The most common viruses in your body don’t make you ill. Instead, they infect the legions of microbes that live in ...
Employing supercomputers in studying neurological conditions
Recent published research in the Journal of Clinical Investigationdemonstrates how changes in dopamine signaling and dopamine transporter function are linked to ...
