Human Spotlight
Neo-Eugenics: An evolutionary argument against mitochondrial replacement therapy
A new form of genetic therapy is not only unethical, but also impossible because of the mess that evolution has ...
Frankenstein’s Cat: How animal biotechnology informs us about our humanity
Science writer Emily Anthes' new book, Frankenstein’s Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech’s Brave New Beasts provides an animated review of ...
The genetics of mental illness and the allure of gene-ism
The current reality of mental illness is one of blurred boundaries; new genetic results showing coming ground among several disorders ...
Should the government loosen ethical oversight of stem cell research?
When it comes to stem cell research, we’ve moved from an era of debating the ethics of a technology in ...
Genetic engineering may help in mapping the human brain
With the completion of the Human Genome Project, biology’s next big challenge will be to map the human brain, report ...
Gene therapy’s breakout moment
This could be gene therapy's breakout moment: speculative venture capital investors are realizing the potential of gene therapy and are ...
“Adam” born 338,000 years ago in revised estimate
DNA collected from an African American suggests that the "genetic Adam" may have lived far longer ago than previously thought ...
Synthetic biology comes down to Earth
The Chronicle of Higher Education profiles Jim Collins, a Boston University bioengineer and founder of synthetic biology ...
“Phenomenon of nature”: Biologist turned law professor on why Myriad may be on shaky ground
Biologist turned-law professor Jeffrey Lefstin argues that, in the case of Myriad, the requisite that patents be a "non-obvious application ...
College genetics gets personal
Classes that deal with personal genetic results are popping up on college campuses with backing from 23andMe ...
An embarrassment of “-omes”: Which ones matter?
Forget the genome. We're drowning in transcriptomes, epigenomes, and other -omes. How many of these categories are useful and how ...
The Supreme Court sees the future: 90-minute DNA matches, and less crime
The following is an edited excerpt. "I think this is perhaps the most important criminal procedure case that this Court ...
Detecting the ‘genetic’ characteristics of malware
The battle between malicious software and computer anti-virus programs is continuous and ever-evolving. But thinking of malware in a biological ...
Scientists savage each other over ‘Junk DNA’ study while journalists mis-report the science
The "junk DNA isn't junk!" headline ran rampant earlier this year, in the wake of the ENCODE project publishing reams ...
Nutrigenomics: There is no universal healthy diet
The ubiquitous Food Pyramid (and newcomer MyPlate) offer the same dietary recommendations for everyone above two years of age, including ...
New guidelines on testing kids’ DNA
When and how should parents have their children genetically tested? Ricki Lewis gives a Cliff’s Notes version of the new ...
Monsanto, Myriad: Two US Legal Cases Shaking Biotechnology Industries
Two cases, Bowman v. Monsanto Co and Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics -- once centered on agricultural genetics, ...
Searching for genius in the genes
Scientists have been able to isolate some genes connected to lower IQ, but the genes which help create high intelligence ...
Can genes determine whether your kid aces the SATs?
More than ever, a child’s academic future depends on standardized testing scores. The pressure to perform well can be intense, ...
Should we ban genetically engineered babies?
In a recent debate hosted by Intelligence Squared, an intellectual forum whose periodic events are broadcast on the web, scientists ...
Crime-fighting DNA banks should be used sparingly
The following is an excerpt. DNA has been such an effective tool for solving crimes that many people are pushing ...
The popular (and misleading) view of DNA
Despite push-back against genetic determinism ("DNA is not destiny"), there's is still a popular reluctance to reduce the prominence of ...
Should Lance Armstrong be celebrated as a pioneer in human enhancement?
Technology and medicine are helping humans to go above-and-beyond our evolutionary limitations. As self-enhancement becomes more socially acceptable, allowing doping ...
Neanderthal cloning: Morally wrong and scientifically challenging
Genetic imprinting limits the scientific value of cloning a Neanderthal ...
Bionic eyes may soon be available in the U.S.
For people with retinitis pigmentosa -- a rare genetic disease that damages cells in the back of the eye -- ...
Orphan genes spawn from junk DNA
Despite orphan genes' seeming incompatibility with evolutionary theory, they're actually an example of natural selection at its finest ...
