Biomedicine & Disease
OR Senator Jeff Merkley: ‘GM salmon is too risky’
(Summary) Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) has spoken out against genetically modified salmon, which the Food and Drug Administration is considering ...
Stem cells of obese women promote the growth of breast tumors
Obesity causes changes in stem cells that can result in cancers growing more aggressively, say scientists at Tulane University School ...
Depression makes cells age faster
Even when adjusted to account for excluded lifestyle differences, a recent study shows that depressed patients have shorter telomeres, a ...
Epigenetics of drug abuse
Studying post-mortem human brains of heroin abusers, Yasmin Hurd of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and her ...
Eliminating genetic mystery, for only $99
IF DNA is destiny, then Anne Wojcicki is in the right business. She is the co-founder and chief executive of ...
Do the benefits of synthetic biology outweigh the risks?
In 2010, scientists created the world’s first synthetic life form. With this staggering achievement came the inevitable ethical and philosophical ...
Anti-GMO activists in Florida oppose GM mosquitoes to combat disease, rather risk dengue fever and pesticide use
(Summary) Residents in the Florida Keys oppose the release of a genetically modified mosquito that could reduce rates of dengue ...
You can’t control your child’s destiny through genetics
With the rise of prenatal genetic testing and the new techniques for editing DNA, you'd think we'd be able to ...
Gene puts African Americans at higher risk for kidney failure
Genetic factors in African Americans with chronic kidney disease (CKD) put them at a greater risk for end-stage renal disease ...
New genetic ‘editing’ technique raises the specter of human enhancement
It’s got Nobel Prize written all over it. The scientific innovation, CRISPR, which enables accurate ‘editing’ of DNA (compared to ...
Kauai County councilmembers bicker over GMO and pesticide fact-finding group, await state input
A Kauai City Council subcommittee has been tasked with building a group to assess pesticide and GMO use on the ...
Americans want doctors’ guidance on genetic test results
In an era of commercialized medicine, direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing has been on a steady rise. Consumers can purchase a ...
Could mass DNA testing change health care?
A simple genetic test could show whether you're likely to get a serious disease, and it only costs $99. The ...
Critics urge caution over UK genome project call for volunteers
British researchers are looking for volunteers to have their genome sequenced and made publicly available; critics warn about the loss ...
21st century will be the age of precision genetics
Until now, it has only been possible to “edit” a living genome using dangerously blunt methods; modified viruses are sure ...
Making sense of gene additions and deletions in tumor cells
In a paper published last week in the journal Cell, researchers at Harvard Medical School shed light on a potentially critical factor in ...
Plant scientist analyzes Hawaii County’s anti-GMO Bill 113
If passed, Hawaii County's Bill 113 would ban all new open-field cultivation of GM crops and may cause problems for ...
Activists should target “Big Ag,” not GMOs
In response to Washington State's rejection of I-522 to label genetically engineered foods, Guardian's environmental writer Richard Schiffman believes that the energy ...
Precision gene editing paves way for monkey models of genetic disease
A new precise technique for editing genes may allow researchers to to create genetically modified monkeys and develop treatments for ...
Canada considers genetic non-discrimination law
Physicians and patient advocacy groups say they support a proposed change to the Ontario Human Rights Code aimed at protecting ...
Being an egg donor or surrogate carries costs
It almost always starts with an emotional story: an infertile couple trying desperately to conceive; a woman diagnosed with cancer, ...
Genetic clues in mammals could unlock secret to anti-aging
For years, scientists have studied how to combat old age. Now, new research suggests that genetic clues in mammals with ...
Are we headed for universal genome screening at birth?
Nearly all of the 4 million babies born every year in the United States undergo newborn screening for genetic disease ...
New test to tell if your DNA came from mom or dad
In a development expected to improve the process of matching organ donors and understanding how genes contribute to diseases, researchers have devised ...
Genome sequencing: How much do you really want to know about your future?
This past July, the New York Genome Center opened its shiny new doors in downtown Manhattan. The massive, sparkling multi-million dollar 21st-century ...
Whole genome sequencing at birth might change everything
The National Institutes of Health recently funded BabySeq, a project to sequence the genomes of several hundred newborns and determine ...
China’s anti-GMO activists exploit fears of infertility
In a new blog post by Kevin Folta, interim chairman the University of Florida’s horticulture program, he describes the anti-GMO ...