Human 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
Why marijuana might not be such a great weapon to fight opioid addiction
The opioid crisis is an ongoing national tragedy. One commonly suggested response is cannabis. But emerging state and national statistics ...
BRCA mutations can be deadly or harmless. Now CRISPR can tell the difference
CRISPR has many emerging applications, one of which is identifying dangerous breast cancer mutations ...
Blasting rodents with cell phone radiation increased cancer risk. Here’s why that means nothing for humans
Last week the National Toxicology Program (NTP) issued an update on the results of the largest animal experiment to assess ...
Genetics and Type 2 diabetes: Why weight loss alone may not be enough for some people
People who develop Type 2 diabetes fall into one of two categories — those whose blood sugar can be controlled ...
Why you need to know about RNA therapy and its potential to revolutionize disease treatment
After a decade of painstaking progress​, the underdog is on the brink of treating a broad range of diseases ...
Quick FDA approval of GMO human insulin 36 years ago contrasts with today’s biotechnology regulatory sclerosis
This week marked the 36th anniversary of one of biotechnology’s most significant milestones—the approval by the FDA of human insulin ...
Who benefits most from FDA’s ‘accelerated’ drug approvals? Patients or drugmakers?
Increasing reliance on this and other means of moving drugs quickly to market have many critics worried, given that drugmakers ...
Not-so-mad scientists and why they’re making human body parts
Halloween brings a cornucopia of candy body parts, so it’s a good time to review recent advances in organoid technology ...
How Frankenstein and 200 years of horror stories have haunted the biotechnology revolution
It was a dark and stormy night in 1818, when something sinister was loosed upon the world. Okay, so it ...
Not so different after all: Reptile and human brains have a lot in common
Reports of human and reptile brain differences seem greatly exaggerated, according to recent neuroscience ...
Why ending muscle wasting matters for curing cancer
Deterioration of muscle is the cause of death in many diseases, like cancer, but no treatments address this lethal symptom ...
‘Autonomous weapons’ based on artificial intelligence could change warfare—and why that’s worrisome
In a new book, an expert (and former U.S. Army Ranger) warns that the world is stumbling toward a scary ...
Selling yourself? These companies want to pay for your genetic information
Some companies want to rent your DNA - should you let them? ...
Why we may need a ‘Noah’s Ark’ of microbes to protect our health in the future
Preserving human microbiomes today, especially the more diverse ones from traditional peoples in developing nations, may provide treatments for diseases ...
Failure of race-based medicine? We aren’t accounting for the unique genetics of biracial and multiracial populations
For several decades in modern medicine history, human race has been used as a constant variable to predict and/or determine ...
Cancer and genetics: Why smoking threatens more than just your lungs
Cigarettes smoking causes lung, throat and larynx cancers–which makes sense because those tissues come directly into contact with smoke and ...
Breaking the body’s ‘sugar code’ could refine our ability to predict, treat diseases
Key elements of arthritis, cancer, food allergies and aging are trapped within glycans, types of sugar in the human body ...
Synthetic biology mosquitoes: Pioneering solution emerges to counter fears over using genetic engineering to control Zika
In fall 2015, the biotech company Oxitec planned to release genetically engineered mosquitoes throughout the Florida Keys capable of stopping their ...
Sen. Elizabeth Warren controversy: Almost every American has a sliver of Native American ancestry
The reporting on the largest genetic study of American ancestry—claims that Americans are a genetic melting pot of white, black ...
How DNA health screening of pets can lead to tragic consequences
A lack of regulatory scrutiny has left pet owners and their companions vulnerable to misleading marketing and immature science ...
CAR-T cell therapy and the promise of immune cells engineered to fight cancer
The National Cancer Institute estimates that more than 1.7 million people will be diagnosed with cancer this year. To cope ...
Using your body’s internal clock to offset those bad eating habits
When we eat late at night, it disrupts our circadian rhythm. Eating within an 8-12 hour time period could reset ...
Defining life: If it’s created in a lab, is it really alive?
Describing life is difficult and evasive. Will we fully understand life if we can create it through synthetic biology? ...
Gender and the brain: Are there hardwired differences between men and women?
The idea that genders are different in a neurological sense is picking up considerable momentum in the hard sciences. It could have ...
Is it time to rethink evolutionary timeline for Earth’s animals?
New research suggests that animal origins happened much earlier than previously thought ...
Viewpoint: Why consumer DNA tests are more dangerous than you might think
Commercial DNA testing isn’t just harmless entertainment. It’s keeping alive ideas that deserve to die ...
Rewiring the brain and what’s happening when we’re ‘thinking ourselves better’
A self-help skeptic is confronted with evidence — anecdotal and scientific — that we may be able to think ourselves ...
