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
Haeckel v. Miklucho-Maclay: The 19th century battle between a race scientist and his indigenous-rights supporting protégé
Ernst Haeckel pushed race science as his little-known protégé Nikolai Miklucho-Maclay defended Indigenous rights ...
Balding throughout the ages
Balding is really common, affecting more than 50% of men. It’s also physically inconsequential (bald men live just as long ...
Superbugs: Climate change spurs dangerous rise in antibiotic resistance in humans and animals
he next time you need to take antibiotics, they may not work. So you may be prescribed a different antibiotic, ...
GLP podcast and video: ChatGPT more empathetic than doctors? How ideology corrupts science; Testing drugs on mini-organs, not animals
Is ChatGPT more empathetic than your doctor? A recent study seems to suggest so. An emerging consensus of scientists is ...
How COVID can lodge itself in our brains
As the fourth year of the pandemic dawns, a study published in Nature from Daniel Chertow, MD, MPH, head of ...
It’s been nearly 60 years since the first known transgender surgery took place in the United States. Here’s what’s happened since.
Enforcement of binary gender norms has led to unwanted medical interventions on intersex and cisgender children ...
Personalized genetic cancer treatments key in increasing longevity and quality of life
Personalized, or precision, medicine applied to cancer treatment has its origins in studies of human genetics and the genetic mutations ...
How Africa evolved as the crucible for early human transition from forest-inhabiting fruit-eaters to savanna-dwelling hunters
That humans originated in Africa is widely accepted. But it’s not generally recognised how unique features of Africa’s ecology were ...
Pharmacy shelves are bare of many critical drugs. Reciprocity between the US and other countries could help address that
Dr. Deborah Greenhouse, a pediatrician in South Carolina, tweeted on February 1, OK pediatricians, I'm starting a new contest: Who ...
Viewpoint: Netflix’s Ancient Apocalypse ‘devalues both archaeology and Indigenous heritage’
Author Graham Hancock is back, defending his well-trodden theory about an advanced global ice age civilisation, which he connects in ...
Are endocrine-disrupting chemicals causing a decline in fertility in men? Here’s how ideology corrupts evidence-based science
Attempts to make science conform to ideology have enjoyed a long and dispiriting history. For many centuries, religion was the ...
Video: Here’s how early life on Earth could have originated elsewhere in the cosmos
The incredible survival skills of certain forms of bacteria and archaea, including the ability to stay dormant...in space ...
GLP podcast and video: Ice cream cuts obesity risk? Anti-vaccine study retracted; If you’re afraid of chemicals, quit drinking alcohol
Could ice cream reduce your risk of diabetes and obesity? A surprising amount of evidence supports that hypothesis. How do ...
Viewpoint: Joseph Ladapo, Florida’s conspiracy-promoting, vaccine-rejecting surgeon general, is a public menace
He has blood on his hands. Even as the worst of the health crisis ignited by the SARS-CoV-2 virus fades, ...
Envisioning what doesn’t exist: How humans and other mammals evolved the capacity for memory
Imagination makes us human – this unique ability to envision what doesn’t exist has a long evolutionary history ...
Does IVF increase the risk of breast or ovarian cancer by as much as 65%, as some studies claim?
Statistics related to medical risks and care often unnecessarily frighten people, and lousy journalism doesn't help ...
Is biology sexist and racist? The escalating battle over ‘inclusive terminology’ and the language of science
Science, biology in particular, is rife with racism and other egregious forms of prejudice and bigotry. That’s the belief now ...
Did Neanderthals’ meat-eating habits contribute to their demise?
Understanding our ancestors’ diets may reveal critical clues about their evolutionary success or failure ...
Viewpoint: Modern humanity is only 300,000 years along. Does that explain why we screw up so much?
How can humans have gotten so far, but still have so many problems? We are a young species. We are ...
Kill the Messenger: mRNA-based livestock vaccines are under attack by vaccine skeptics. Here’s why their rejectionism is misplaced — and dangerous
The rapid development of safe and effective vaccines against SARS-CoV2 demonstrated the agility and efficacy of mRNA vaccines. The knowledge ...
Will you get a hangover after a night of heavy drinking? Genetics is key
After a good night out you may not be surprised when you wake up feeling rough the next morning. But ...
Viewpoint: Existential ethics — Pondering the extinction of the global human population
Why would it be so bad if our species came to an end? It is a question that reveals our ...
Viewpoint: People spread chemophobic drivel about ‘dangerous chemicals’ that science says are safe as used — then continue to drink alcohol
Thanks largely to the press and some radical environmental groups most people are terrified of chemicals because they can give ...
Why did Ellie in the Last of Us not succumb to Cordy, the zombie virus? Stem cells might explain it, and that could yield real-life vaccines
It’s unsettling to watch The Last of Us, in which parasitic fungi turn humanity into flesh-eating zombies, just as the ...
Faith genes? Can DNA predispose us to religion and spirituality?
Do our genes predispose us to follow a religion? I searched Google Scholar for reports on the inheritance of religiosity ...
Could CRISPR be replaced by an AI-powered gene editing tool?
A new study has developed what the researchers call the "world's first" simple, modifiable proteins. Called "zinc fingers," these special ...
CRISPR gene doping: The next ‘big issue’ in world athletics
In 2020, the Polish developer CD Projekt Red launched Cyberpunk 2077, a video game that pulled players in to a ...
