Brain/Neuroscience
Using Zika in the fight against deadly brain cancer
With traditional cancer-fighting tools--surgery, radiation and chemotherapy--proving ineffective against glioblastoma tumors, researchers are exploring an unconventional treatment using a weakened ...
Human embryoids push bioethical boundaries
Scientists are using stem cells to create clumps of cells that increasingly resemble bits of brain, lungs, or intestine. […] ...
Upchuck factor: Alcoholism targeted with novel gene therapy
Researchers are exploring the use of a naturally occurring mutation that causes people to get sick after drinking alcohol. The ...
Air pollution, while abating in most places, poses ‘greatest threat to public health?’
Even with vast improvements in air quality since the ’70s, people haven’t stopped dying from the air they breathe. An ...
Bible and the brain: How did ancient Israelites ‘hear’ God?
James Kugel has been spent his entire scholarly career studying the Bible, but some very basic questions about it still ...
Mini ‘brains’ aid study of dementia and mental illness
[A] brain organoid begins as a single skin cell taken from an adult. With the right biochemical prodding, that cell ...
Children receive four times as many genetic mutations from dads than moms
Children inherit four times as many new mutations from their fathers than their mothers, according to research that suggests faults ...
Alzheimer’s ‘brain health’ quiz likely to scare more than help
Critics question the integrity of a risk assessment sent to prospective patients by NorthShore University Health System's Center for Brain ...
Questioning the promise of anonymity for DNA donors
Thousands of human genomes have been collected by research institutions around the world in recent years, as they attempt to find ...
Genetic mutation causes insulin production without eating carbs
Researchers have discovered how a genetic mutation may lead to excess production of insulin, a condition known as congenital hyperinsulinism, ...
Orthorexia nervosa: Do anti-GMO activists have this ‘eating disorder’?
Orthorexia nervosa is being evaluated as a possible psychiatric diagnosis -- which is causing symptoms of anxiety among some people ...
Transhumanism and inequality: Enhancing human life could bring dystopian consequences
Transhumanism may offer a pathway to an 'engineered paradise,' but there are many perils and pitfalls ahead -- particularly for ...
Psychologists downplay role of genetics in mental health
While there has been some success in uncovering genes which make people more susceptible to various disorders, specialists say that ...
Is scientific neutrality being lost to commercialism?
In the past few decades, the life sciences have been transformed into gigantic bio-technosciences, blurring the boundaries between science and ...
Extreme Male Brain Theory? Girls with autism have characteristically more masculine faces
A new study suggests that boys and girls with autism have facial features that are characteristically more male than female. [...] ...
Multiple sclerosis added to list of diseases exacerbated by gut microbes
The trillions of bacteria that live in our intestines, known collectively as the gut microbiome, have been linked to maladies ...
Genetic Literacy Project’s Top 6 Stories for the Week – Sept. 18, 2017
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO online series promotes fear and ‘less sustainable’ farming | Alison Van Eenennaam Will the public embrace CRISPR to ‘edit ...
Tiny genetic alteration linked to devastatingly large brain size
An international collaboration led by scientists and doctors from the UK, Netherlands and United States has identified a new genetic ...
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO online series promotes fear and ‘less sustainable’ farming
Works like the recently released "GMOs Revealed" are making it more difficult for new agricultural techniques to gain widespread acceptance ...
Alcohol consumption by fathers could lead to fetal alcohol syndrome
Fathers-to-be have been warned to avoid alcohol or risk affecting the health and well-being of their unborn child. Paternal alcohol ...
Is brain hacking possible?
Accessing the human brain to enable functional connections with electronic technology may sound incredibly futuristic, but a handful of entrepreneurs, ...
New generation of biotechnology could unlock brain mysteries
Though genetics has fundamentally changed the pace of drug development for many therapeutic areas, the brain has been slow to reveal ...
Marijuana and epigenetics: Are we moving too quickly with legalization?
Some research suggests there could be health implications related to a surge in legalized marijuana use in the US. One ...
Brain ‘flexibility’ could help explain why people learn differently
As a person learns, connections between brain regions can change. Some neural partners connect, then split apart […]; others form ...
Suffering for the love of birds: A scientist’s battle to save birds — and now her career
PETA begins to harass and intimidate a rising researcher in the field of animal behavior, scientist Kevin Folta urges the ...
Weakened Zika virus might help fight brain cancer in adults
A new study suggests that the same properties that make Zika a dangerous virus for unborn children could be useful ...
Parkinson’s stem cell treatment shows promise in monkeys–human trials next
Japanese researchers report promising results from an experimental therapy for Parkinson’s disease that involves implanting neurons made from ‘reprogrammed’ stem ...
