Brain/Neuroscience
Neuron by neuron: We often examine the brain too closely to see the big picture
[Rafael Yuste thinks neuroscientists have been looking at the brain too close. “It’s just like a TV screen—if you’re watching ...
Genomics AI tool: Google’s DeepVariant released as open source
A novel artificial intelligence tool that can accurately call out variants in sequencing data was released as open source on the ...
Turning night owls into early birds? It may soon be possible
The discovery of a genetic mutation linked to night owl behavior raises the prospect of a drug treatment that would ...
Viewpoint: 12 ways organic activists mislead consumers
Does the organic food industry use deceptive marketing practices to scare wealthy customers away from conventional agriculture and GMOs? The ...
Anatomy of the demon Demogorgon from ‘Stranger Things’: Is there a real-life counterpart?
The Demogorgon, a creature from the hit Netflix show 'Stranger Things', resembles real life cellular slime mold ...
Genetic Literacy Project’s Top 6 Stories for the Week – Dec. 4, 2017
EU re-approval of glyphosate herbicide dodges farming economic woes—for now | Andrew Porterfield Have humans or any of Earth's creatures stopped evolving? | David ...
Kissing cousins: Understanding the genetic risks and benefits when close relatives marry
Endogamy––the marriage of relatives––is a controversial cultural practice. It can play surprising roles in health and disease ...
Mom was right: Teenagers’ brains can’t process what’s important and what’s not
Adults are generally pretty good at being able to tell when a situation is worthy of extra time or concentration ...
Brain addiction: Why stopping drug use is so difficult
Drug addiction is a commonly misunderstood disease. Once addicted, it’s not only about pleasure seeking or choice, but chemical reactions ...
Why did 5 leukemia patients die in 2016 CAR-T trial?
More than a year after five leukemia patients died from an experimental treatment involving genetically engineered immune cells, its developer ...
Synaesthesia: For those who lose their sight, colors can have sound
Vanessa Potter lost her sight. As she recovered, her senses mingled – hearing and touch changed the way she saw ...
How gene therapy could help fight methamphetamine addiction
Gene therapy, which modifies a person’s DNA, has long been thought of as a way to treat genetic diseases—and, more recently, ...
Stressed out? It could alter your sperm
Sperm from stressed-out dads can carry that stress from one generation to another. “But one question that really hasn’t been ...
Genetics of mental health yield surprising connections but no cures
Scientists are slowly uncovering the genes and mechanisms that cause mental health disorders, but we are a long way from ...
Searching for extraterrestrial life: Finding the right communication technology
Scientists are looking for evidence of extraterrestrial communication across interstellar space. But what if other intelligent life forms are using ...
Ex-NFL player first living person diagnosed with CTE
Researchers published, what they say is the first case of a living person identified with the degenerative brain disease, chronic traumatic ...
Sheep can identify faces in photos—and that may help us understand Huntington’s disease
Researchers trained eight sheep to identify celebrity faces from photographs. The investigators also found that the sheep could identify a ...
Our brains grow and shrink when we learn—which is how we continue to absorb knowledge
Our past understanding of the brain would suggest that new knowledge requires new brain cells, and as a result our ...
Measuring intelligence and IQ, and the problems that presents
For more than a century, IQ tests have been used to measure IQ. But their use is hotly debated by ...
Viewpoint: We need constraints on artificial intelligence
If there’s nothing magical about our brains or essential about the carbon atoms that make them up, then we can ...
A gene-editing first: Scientists try to edit a living human’s DNA
Scientists for the first time have tried editing a gene inside the body in a bold attempt to permanently change ...
DNA profiles of 500,000 people put online by UK Biobank in massive research effort
U.K. Biobank [recruited] 500,000 volunteers for a massive study on the origins of disease. In addition to collecting blood and urine, ...
Brain autopsy of murderer Aaron Hernandez shows severe CTE damage
For the first time since announcing former NFL star Aaron Hernandez's CTE diagnosis in September, Boston University neuropathologist Dr. Ann ...
European farmers: Finding replacement for glyphosate is no easy task
As European politicians move toward blocking the use of glyphosate, farmers there are facing the prospect of using less-effective replacements ...
Can’t get motivated? You may be able to blame your genes
Being apathetic may feel like following the path of least resistance. But studies of apathy in the brain show otherwise ...
Will we learn anything from the brain of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock?
The brain that sat in the skull of the Las Vegas shooter [Stephen Paddock] as he planned out his attack, ...
Epigenetics and addiction: Enzyme could help treat cocaine, alcohol and opioid dependence
Previously, it had been studied that an epigenetic drug could alter DNA methylation in the brain during drug withdrawal with hopes in ...
