Biomedicine & Disease
A progressive looks for common ground in the GMO debate
Skeptics of GM food should come to grips with the fact that the act of genetic manipulation is itself not ...
New method of locating and targeting mutations promises “letter by letter” genome editing
A new method of identifying the exceedingly rare and difficult-to-pinpoint mutations in the human genome gives researchers unprecedented ability to ...
Full genome sequencing is medically promising, but still expensive
Genome sequencing holds great potential for diagnosing diseases, finding treatments and ultimately cutting medical costs, experts say, but insurance companies ...
Latest on rewriting genomes, humans’ included
A genetic modification system, CRISPR/Cas, has shown breakthrough success in primates and is poised to make the futurists' dreams of ...
Preparing for the inevitable: DNA tests for newborns
Today, parents don't need to deal with the knowledge of genetic pitfalls that might lie ahead for their offspring. But ...
New York Times recycles old news on ethics of genetic screening
The NYT carried a front-page story about genetic screening techniques that have been around for two decades, raising familiar ethical ...
How far do you go to weed out lesser genetic defects
Two days ago in the New York Times, Gina Kolata told the story of Amanda Kalinsky, a 30-year-old woman who ...
Family thwarts genetic disease by narrowing the bloodline
Days before she ended her pregnancy, Joselin Linder was thrilled to imagine herself as a parent. Linder is not a ...
Judges reaffirm that stem cells fall under aegis of FDA
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week (February 4) that culturing a patient’s stem cells for therapeutic use ...
Searching for invulnerability to cancer
In June 2013, I described how sequencing the highly abnormal genomes of cancer cells can identify some of the mutations ...
Genome sequencing: bringing people and their disease risks together
Last year, actress and activist Angelina Jolie made headlines when she wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times ...
International Cancer Genome Consortium releases data on 10k cancer genomes
The International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) today announced that it has made available to the scientific community data from more ...
Both sides of the GMO food fight are fighting for the same ends
On either side of the GMO fight, you find combatants in fierce agreement about the right of all people to ...
New York City student ancestry project to analyze DNA
“I’m part Neanderthal,” Rachel Bruton, a member of National Geographic’s Explorer Programs team, told Medical Daily. “I consider it bragging ...
Who should be able to access your genetic data?
Imagine having a child and knowing at birth what diseases he or she will face in life. Today, parents can ...
Environmentalists’ stance on GMOs betrays progressive values
It is obviously inconsistent on the part of environmental groups such as Greenpeace to trumpet the importance of the worldwide ...
Were Neanderthals a different species?
Up to 40% of the Neanderthal genome may be preserved across our collective genomes, and the areas of the human ...
Misplaced fears of identical diseases links anti-GMOers to anti-technology fringe groups
GMOs, vaccines, chemtrails, fluoride, all have remarkably similar suites of disease "side effects" according to anti-technology critics. The same scare ...
Genetic screening of embryos thwarts disease and creates ethical questions
Screening embryos for IVF lets parents avoid passing on deadly genetic diseases. But selecting according to gender or disease risk ...
Americans both excited and worried by advances in DNA research
Most Americans are excited about the possibility of scientific breakthroughs brought by DNA research, a new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds. But ...
Sleeping too much, or not enough, increases genetic risk of depression
Two new studies published in the journal Sleep have found a link between sleep duration and depression. “Healthy sleep is ...
Epigenetic changes needed to regenerate nerves
To regenerate after injury, a nerve cell must turn on gene programs that have been silenced since development. Epigenetic modifications, ...
23andMe pushes on with genetic research
Researchers have gained more insight into the genetic risk factors for asthma with hay fever thanks to consumer genetic testing ...
Saudi academics call for mandatory premarital genetic screening
A number of Saudi experts, academics, as well as young men and women have called for premarital screenings to be ...
Should the FDA take a libertarian view of personal genomics?
Geneticists, lawyers, students and industry experts packed into a conference room on Stanford's campus this week to discuss the ethics ...
Acid bath turns adult cells into stem cells
Japanese researchers report transforming adult cells into a flexible, embryonic state via a surprisingly simple method of exposing the cells ...
Acid bath reverts adult cells to pluripotent state
A little stress is all it took to make new life from old. Adult cells have been given the potential ...