Biomedicine & Disease
The $1000 human genome: A reality check
Illumina, the leading maker of DNA sequencers, recently announced that it will soon begin producing a new piece of equipment ...
View from an Iowa farm: In choosing seeds, ‘I’m no pawn of Monsanto’
Every year, farmers are faced with difficult decisions about which seeds they will plant. The wrong choices can be disastrous ...
Fused gene might increase lupis risk. Or not.
It was a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup moment in genetic evolution: The end of one gene fused to the beginning ...
23andMe’s story to unfold over the course of 2014
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled in November that the kit sold by the most prominent of these companies, ...
Hookworm genome may lead to a cure for more than 700 million infection sufferers
Scientists have decoded the genome of a lowly, blood-sucking hookworm, an advance they say could lead to cures for hookworm ...
FDA backs genetic screening, but struggles against ‘wild west’ of consumer genomics
The FDA's tussle with personal genetics company 23andMe may make the headlines. But in many other ways the agency is ...
Russia moves to legitimize GM seed imports, spur research
Russia has introduced a registration system for foods containing genetically modified organisms that could drag the illegal import of genetically modified seeds ...
‘Swiss-army-knife’ molecule could help researchers assess how cells really work
Researchers have discovered a first-of-its-kind way to isolate RNA from live cells in their natural tissue microenvironment without damaging nearby ...
Massive data do not support Don Huber’s GMO/glyphosate pathogen claims
Anti-GMO figure Don Huber, Emeritus Professor of Plant Pathology at Purdue University, has stirred quite a bit of controversy as ...
Analysis of baby DNA to demystify diseases
When Kira Walker was three weeks old, her pediatrician noticed a problem. She was frequently hungry and had dangerously low ...
What will the $1,000 genome mean?
Sydney’s Garvan Institute is promoting its acquisition of an Illumina machine which it says can sequence the whole human genome ...
Decoding the genome of 19th century cholera outbreak in Philadelphia
A "shriveled piece of intestine" from an unfortunate, unknown victim of Philadelphia's 1849 outbreak of cholera has given researchers just ...
Breakthrough in bee sex determination gives new insight into human genetics
Let me tell you ’bout the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees.... Remember that old Jewel ...
How will parents deal with fetal genome screening?
Today’s genetic technologies are not yet a crystal ball for seeing a child’s future, but doctors are closer than ever ...
Genomics is as important as the discovery of antibiotics
The researcher behind Australia's acquisition of a breakthrough DNA sequencing machine said genomics could have as significant an impact on ...
Using gene therapy, patients with rare sight disorders get vision partly restored
Two men with progressive blindness have regained some of their vision after taking part in the first clinical trial of ...
Will public trust in personalized medicine suffer, an ethicist wonders
23andMe's personal DNA test kits have helped increase public interest in personalized medicine. But after the FDA demanded they stop ...
Ethics debate intensifies over retraction of flawed Séralini GMO rat study
While the mainstream science community has backed the decision by a prominent journal to withdraw and expunge from the records ...
Deadly bacteria could put an end to Florida orange juice
For years, Florida orange farmers have been fighting an incurable bacterial infection that threatens the very existence of the state's ...
State of the planet: GMOs not just about crops
While much attention is focused on genetically modified foods and the debate over their safety, fewer people are aware that many ...
Genetic disorder causes people to be born without fingerprints
In 2007, dermatologist Peter Itin was contacted by a Swiss woman with an unusual quandry: She was having trouble entering ...
$1000 genome may finally be in sight
Despite all the talk, no company has yet met the goal of sequencing a human genome for $1,000 or less ...
Gene therapy successful in treating leukemia. Can it be used to fight other cancers as well?
A new cancer treatment pioneered at the University of Pennsylvania has generated a lot of excitement in the field and ...
Control and access to DNA in today’s high-tech world
In today’s high-tech world, our privacy concerns typically revolve around usernames, passwords and PIN numbers. But one piece of personal ...
Using DNA to personally predict drug reactions
Scientists searching for a way to avoid prescribing medications to patients that may cause dangerous physical or behavioral responses are ...
Huge new genomics study searches for roots of genetic disease in 100k people
Here comes genomics, Take 2. Pharmaceutical companies invested heavily in genetic studies in the frenzy after the sequencing of the ...
Injecting DNA in the brain: What’s the promise of gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease?
Gene therapy has been used to successfully treat a number of challenging diseases, such as leukemia. Now, scientists are hoping ...
