Human Genetics Features
The GLP tackles innovations in human genetics and biotechnology. We highlight the work of our own writers, as well as that of contributors from around the Web. The GLP does not take a position on genetics-related issues; any opinions expressed belong to the authors.
Categories include:
- CRISPR and gene editing
- Gene therapy
- Stem cell research
- Genetic diseases
- Synthetic biology
- Epigenetics
- Biodrugs (pharmacogenetics)
- Personal genomics
- Ancestry and evolution
- Ethics and regulations
How Freddie Mercury got his voice: It wasn’t his teeth
Was Freddie Mercury's magnificent voice aided by a genetic defect? ...
Podcast: Life-saving snake venom? Palm oil from gene-edited soybeans; Fighting plastic pollution with biotech
Believe it or not, scientists are exploiting venom from snakes, snails and other poisonous critters to make life-saving medicines. Could ...
Ancient humans didn’t get sunburn. Here’s how living indoors has evolved our skin
Human beings have a conflicted relationship with the sun. People love sunshine, but then get hot. Sweat gets in your ...
Part I: Intelligence, disease, prejudice — and Jewish skeletal remains in a Norwich well
Who would have thought that bones found at the bottom of a medieval well in England could stir up such ...
Curing insomnia: Techno-solutions like brain-altering apps and sleep trackers are proliferating but the solutions may be far more ancient
You will likely spend about 26 years of your life sleeping. You’ll use up another seven years just falling asleep, ...
Yet another study from the Ramazzini Institute claims artificial sweeteners may cause cancer. Here’s why scientists and regulators ignore it
There’s an epidemic of obesity and diabetes, and everyone is trying to lose weight. Many individuals use artificial sweeteners to ...
What is ‘genetic nurture’ and how does it impact educational achievement?
The phrase “Look down your nose” comes from a time when aristocrats were taller than commoners due to their superior ...
Women have a much higher risk of being killed by male partners. What explains this phenomenon?
One in four homicides is committed by an intimate partner. As many as four out of ten murders of women ...
Queen Elizabeth II officially died at 96 of ‘old age’. What does that mean?
Queen Elizabeth’s newly released death certificate contains just two curious words under her cause of death – old age ...
Did ancient humans experience depression or anxiety?
Operationalizing a perspective that discusses generalized anxiety and other mental health disorders without interpreting history through the lens of our ...
‘Lessons in Chemistry’: New Apple TV series based on best-selling book has opportunity to skewer sexism while challenging the ‘nerd stereotype’
I loved Lessons in Chemistry, the hit novel by Bonnie Garmus, and I’m thrilled that Apple TV+ picked it up ...
Lab leak theory backlash: Republicans back controversial COVID origins explanation, widening gap on previously bipartisan issue
In March 2021, three members of Congress sent a long letter to the director of the National Institutes of Health, the ...
Teenage brains are a cauldron of change: Here’s what happens on the inside and how it affects our looks and behavior
A lot happens when you reach puberty. Your voice may change and you will experience hair growth on parts of ...
Podcast: BMI useless? Lab-grown meat a ‘pipe dream;’ Did early humans eat each other?
Using body mass index (BMI) to assess a patient's health may yield misleading results and undermine public trust in medicine, ...
Nature, nurture and old age: How much is the human lifespan driven by our genes?
The research used our old friend, the UK Biobank, a repository of genetic information on a large number of Brits, ...
Are Americans too complacent about a winter surge of COVID infections — and deaths?
To the old saying about the inevitability of death and taxes, we should add another: another health crisis linked to ...
‘U-shaped happiness curve’: Do people really get more content with life as they age?
On average, happiness declines as we approach middle age, bottoming out in our 40s but then picking back up as ...
‘The Day I Die’: One man’s struggle with Lou Gehrig’s disease and physician-assisted suicide
[An excerpt] from The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America by Anita Hannig ...
Podcast: NYT attacks another scientist; How we got ‘GMO’ insulin; Why is gene therapy so costly?
The New York Times last week alleged that a high-profile scientist is in cahoots with the meat industry. Is there ...
Is human intelligence an evolutionary dead end?
The German Philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was, by all accounts, a miserable human being. He famously sought meaning through suffering, ...
‘Dead first’: Why American men are men more likely than Canadians, Australians and Brits to die prematurely
Whether it’s stubbornness, an aversion to appearing weak or vulnerable, or other reasons, men go to the doctor far less ...
Do you have frequent nightmares? They could foreshadow future dementia
We spend a third of our lives asleep. And a quarter of our time asleep is spent dreaming. So, for ...
Podcast: Pollution makes you fat? India approves more GMOs; Biological ‘push notifications’
Air pollution harms our health in many ways; does it also encourage obesity? Farmers in India have access to two ...
The increasingly bushy human family tree and five other paradigm-altering changes in our understanding of human evolution
From archaeological reconstructions of Neanderthals as stooped, hairy and brutish, to “cavemen” movies, our ancient ancestors got a bad press ...
New Zealand’s commitment to removing invasive animal predators opens the door to reconsidering its 20-year rejection of genetic modification
Aotearoa New Zealand, the Land of the Long White Cloud, is the first place to see the sunrise on a ...
Podcast: Seralini’s infamous rat study 10 years later — Looking back at the retracted research linking GM corn and glyphosate to cancer
Ten years ago the biotech world froze and horrific images of three tumor-ridden rats penetrated the media. Social media erupted ...
Understanding why people reject science could lead to solutions for rebuilding trust
Why are so many people anti-science? As experts on attitudes, persuasion and how humans are impacted by scientific innovations, our ...