Biomedicine & Disease
Five reasons why you sound crazy when denouncing GMOs
(1) Words and linguistic distinction matters. There is a tendency to either ignore, mutilate or warp the meaning of terms like ...
Scientific American: ‘Environmentalists’ have opposed genetically improving crops as ‘unnatural’ for a century
The May 2014 issue of Scientific American, called Scientific American Classics, looks at "The Birth of the GMO Debate." It ...
Mother’s diet during conception may lead to epigenetic consequences and disease
A study following mothers in rural Gambia, where the rainy and dry season make for major seasonal changes in diet ...
Aging-related loss of Y chromosome reponsible for some cancers
Though overall life expectancy varies around the globe, it is true for pretty much any country you look at that ...
GINA’s sixth birthday: Does legislation protecting our genetic information mean anything?
The Genetic Nondiscrimination Act nominally protects against nefarious use of genetic information by employers and health insurance companies, but it ...
Anti-GMO consumer claims there’s ‘no watchdog’ over GMOs, advocates for labeling
When you cross a horse with a donkey, the offspring is neither a horse or a donkey. The resultant hybrid ...
Effect of large mammal extinction: Humans become preferred vectors
Save the Rhinos! Save the Elephants! Save the humans?! It seems strange to be connecting our own fate to that ...
Pre-conception diet affects child’s DNA
A woman's diet at the time of conception might cause lasting changes in the DNA of her children, potentially influencing ...
Privacy for our electronic genomes: Who’s responsible? What’s at stake?
The level of security and anonymity provided to genetic information depends on the research project, direct to consumer company or ...
Is glyphosate, used with some GM crops, dangerously toxic to humans?
Glyphosate has been characterized by independent science and regulatory agencies to be relatively safe, but anti-GMO groups use uncritically publicized ...
Adult stem cells made into insulin producing cells
For the second time in recent weeks researchers said they used cloning technology on adult tissue, rather than from a ...
Citizens for Health lobbies for suspect alternative meds, supplements (and free love?)
Do you believe in magic? Most scientists now believe that most supplements, mega-vitamins and homeopathy therapies are junk science or ...
Stem cell trial for ALS patients approved
BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the start of a mid-stage clinical trial of its ...
Drug developed first in mice may help elderly keep muscle mass
In 1997, scientist Se-Jin Lee genetically engineered "Mighty Mice" with twice as much muscle as regular rodents. Now, pharmaceutical companies ...
‘Electronic genomes’ vulnerable to attack
In a digital world, even our most sensitive information is vulnerable to hacking. In the case of DNA, people can ...
Citizens for Health lobbies for suspect alternative meds, supplements (free love?)
Do you believe in magic? Most scientists now believe that most supplements, mega-vitamins and homeopathy therapies are junk science or ...
Gene threapy postdoc guilty of misconduct, has six papers retracted
A former postdoc who studied gene therapy at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York is guilty of ...
Influence of genes on body mass grows with age in kids
The influence of genetic factors on differences between children's Body Mass Index (BMI) increases from 43% at age 4 to ...
Rare Turkish neurodegenerative disorder caused by a single mutation
International teams of researchers using advanced gene sequencing technology have uncovered a single genetic mutation responsible for a rare brain ...
Tsetse fly genome decoded, may offer target for sleeping sickness prevention and therapies
Public-health workers are one step closer to stamping out a debilitating and potentially fatal disease known as sleeping sickness following ...
What are the differences in genetically engineering crops and drugs?
When you google GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) the results that come up speak to GM crops, but GMOs are more ...
American’s know genetics relate to health, survey says
23andMe, the leading personal genetics company, is celebrating National DNA Day by taking an in-depth look at what Americans know ...
Gene therapy can restore hearing to deaf poeple
In two months' time, a group of profoundly deaf people could be able to hear again, thanks to the world's ...
Impacts of genetic analysis and patient advocacy for extremely rare diseases
Marshall L. Summar, MD, Chief of the Division of Genetics and Metabolism at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC, ...
Old blood, new science: 115-year-old woman’s blood suggests lifespan depends on stem cells
The blood of one of the oldest women to have lived -- and quite possibly the oldest to ever donate ...
Will European opposition to GM foods slow biomedical advances?
Genetically modified bacteria might be able to relieve celiac sufferers from inflammatory symptoms but researchers worry that tight restrictions promoted ...
Not the end of men: Set of Y chromosome conserved through evolution
A core set of genes on the Y chromosome has been retained through much of animal evolution, not just for ...
