Biomedicine & Disease
Whole genome sequencing not ready for prime time
Once prohibitively expensive and laborious, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is now edging its way into the clinic. The cost of the ...
Judge rules Myriad can’t block other companies’ gene tests
Myriad Genetics Inc. (MYGN:US), the biggest maker of tests for hereditary risks of breast and ovarian cancer, fell the most ...
Whole genome testing for people who aren’t part of a scientific study
Stanford scientists are planning to comb through the complete genetic makeup of 100 people with unexplained hereditary conditions or "mystery" ...
Teen identifies rare mutation in her own cancer, champions new age of open-access genetics
Elana Simon, an 18-year-old high school student, has published a "groundbreaking" genetic study of her own rare cancer in Science ...
23andMe slowed by FDA order, but the company (and personalized medicine) advances
23andMe's conflict with the FDA has slowed the stream of people subscribing to the service, but co-founder Anne Wojcicki thinks ...
Acid bath stem cell method scientist retracts study
The researchers behind the acid bath stem cell method that caused a stir in January have asked to retract the ...
Gene therapy for HIV infection?
HIV has proven to be a frustrating challenge to scientists looking for a magic-bullet cure. Researchers are now evaluating an ...
Multiplex babies? New wrinkle on ‘new eugenics’ and the debate over 3-parent IVF babies
While the debate rages on about 3-parents IVF, there is already talk about an even more radical procedure: babies made ...
The people behind GMO papayas
Last August, I was invited to speak about genetically engineered crops at a GMO Summit organized by the Hawai’i Crop ...
Scientists create genetically modified cells that fight HIV
The treatment is considered radical, and the results were drawn from a small scale human trial, but for the first ...
Age of genomic medicine dawns, finally
When President Bill Clinton announced in 2000 that Craig Venter and Dr. Francis Collins of the National Human Genome Research ...
‘Designer babies’: Mitochondrial misinterpretation by the media
As the FDA took on the charge of debating the science behind three-parent IVF and mitochondrial manipulation last week, the ...
Hawaii County GM papaya grower challenges GMO/pesticide restriction ban
An unnamed farmer filed a lawsuit seeking relief from requirements of Hawaii County’s recently enacted ban on genetically modified crops ...
Was Lamarck right? Epigenetic research suggests we might inherit learned traits. But how?
It seems almost certain that epigenetic effects -- an annotation to DNA that changes how genes are expressed -- can ...
Parents best suited to make decisions on genetic testing for their families
Technology often outpaces ethical discussions; this has become evident in the current recommendations around next-generation genomic testing and the way ...
Capturing a snapshot of how cells interact
Scientists can now take snapshots of where and how thousands of genes are expressed in intact tissue samples, ranging from ...
Genetic entrepreneur J. Craig Venter to tackle the problem of human aging
Craig Venter sequenced the first human genome. He made the first synthetic cell. And now, for his next trick, he's ...
Genetics, digital revolution driving pharmaceutical renaissance
Modern molecular biology and genomics were supposed to lead to a targeted approach to drug development, but in fact our ...
Shorter people less likely to have high IQs
Shorter people are likely to be less intelligent than taller people, according to scientists. Scientists in London and Edinburgh claim ...
China cracks down on DNA testing
Genetic testing has grown to be a business big enough in China to warrant the government’s intervention. Early in February, ...
De-Extinction: If we’re being honest, it is a bit like Jurassic Park
Dinosaurs are not on the de-extinction agenda, but that doesn't mean that the philosophical questions raised by Jurassic Park are ...
Phylogenetic forensics advances but doesn’t give courts a smoking gun
Juries might soon be hearing about the genetic path of infections and diseases as evidence in court cases. The process ...
Horshoe crabs bleed for biomedicine
The bright blue blood of horseshoe crabs is a biomedical treasure, but harvesting the blood of these unique creatures seems ...
GMO Q&A with an Illinois farmer
A seventh generation farmer answers readers questions about GMOs Are GMOs safe? Yes. The World Health Association, the Food & ...
Market for DNA-sequencing-based Down Syndrome tests could top $6 billion
On Wednesday night the New England Journal of Medicine published a study showing that a new, DNA-sequencing based blood test ...
Telling patients they have genetic markers for Alzheimer’s damages memory test performance
A recent article in the American Journal of Psychiatry has examined the effects of informing patients of genetic predispositions to ...
GMO Q&A with an Illinois farmer
A seventh generation farmer answers readers questions about GMOs Are GMOs safe? Yes. The World Health Association, the Food & ...
