Personalized Medicine
Greater variety of pre-natal screenings now offered
The list of available pre-natal genetic screening tests is growing. The tests are non-invasive and generally have a low false-positive ...
Global genomic data-sharing effort kicks off
The number of sequenced human genomes will soon jump from the thousands to the millions. But a recently established high-profile ...
Parents best suited to make decisions on genetic testing for their families
Technology often outpaces ethical discussions; this has become evident in the current recommendations around next-generation genomic testing and the way ...
Genetic entrepreneur J. Craig Venter to tackle the problem of human aging
Craig Venter sequenced the first human genome. He made the first synthetic cell. And now, for his next trick, he's ...
China cracks down on DNA testing
Genetic testing has grown to be a business big enough in China to warrant the government’s intervention. Early in February, ...
Market for DNA-sequencing-based Down Syndrome tests could top $6 billion
On Wednesday night the New England Journal of Medicine published a study showing that a new, DNA-sequencing based blood test ...
Telling patients they have genetic markers for Alzheimer’s damages memory test performance
A recent article in the American Journal of Psychiatry has examined the effects of informing patients of genetic predispositions to ...
Without accurate genome sequencing, personalized medicine is a goner
It's hard to correctly read every one of the six-billion base pairs in a human genome. But without precision sequencing, ...
Leading bioethicists suggest dropping informed consent in limited cases
As technology continues to evolve, leading bioethicists are proposing nuanced approaches to consent: not providing the opportunity for informed consent ...
Geneticists unraveling why autism strikes boys more than girls
It has long been clear that autism strikes boys more often than girls. But when girls do get the condition, ...
Genetic manipulation is a slippery–so get over it
This week, the Food and Drug Administration debated a new IVF technique that could allow women with mitochondrial disease to ...
50,000 generation experiment proves ‘adaptive evolution’ is relentless
In 1988, when evolutionary biologist Richard Lenski was an assistant professor at the University of California, Irvine, he started a ...
Ovary removal reduces death risk by 77% in women with BRCA mutations
A young, cancer-free Toronto woman says her decision to have both ovaries and both breasts removed was daunting, but not ...
Hacked relatives DNA information could expose your genetic secrets
The genetic information of hundreds of thousands of Britons could be revealed through ‘hacking’ into the DNA of their relatives ...
DTC genetic testing companies need nudge to help patients understand results
The 23andMe controversy illustrates a stalemate over the role of direct-to-consumer genetic testing in American health care. On one side ...
Developing a test to predict prostrate cancer risk
DNA testing can predict which men face the highest risk of deadly prostate cancer, scientists say. The team at the ...
Promise of “easy” stem cells comes under investigation
Two breakthrough papers in Nature highlight a remarkable new technique for creating totipotent stem cells via a simple acid bath ...
Genes linked to feeling full may play a role in genetic obesity
A genetic predisposition to weight gain and obesity in later life can in part be explained by a lack of ...
There’s nothing wrong with looking for ‘gay genes’
The Left loves to tell the Right that it's anti-science, pointing (not without reason) to the correlation between conservative beliefs ...
Family selects for children with lower genetic cancer risk
To shield any future children from the fear she harbors of getting breast cancer, Katie Dowdy underwent a controversial procedure ...
Families hope anti-genetic engineering groups don’t stop gene cure for mitochondria disease
Hopes of tackling mitochondrial disease will be raised in a few weeks when the government announces regulations that will permit ...
Scientists edge closer to identifying bipolar risk genes
Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have taken a major step toward identifying the specific genes that ...
Gay people are not genetic aberrations
The recent gay gene "finding" hasn't been peer reviewed, doesn't amount to much scientifically, and opens the door to the ...
Ancient genetics may lead to future treatment for gout
We're susceptible to gout because of a mutated gene in humans and other primates that prevents us from producing uricase, ...
New bionic hand includes a sense of touch
Sensory feedback is what will turn future prostheses from tools into hands; a breakthrough bionic hand represents a first step ...
Company to offer workouts tailored to your genetics
Over the years, I’ve taken a quasi-scientific approach to fitness, trying a variety of exercise and nutrition regimens and analyzing ...
Biotech start-up targets Parkinson’s and ALS with new gene therapy
A Cambridge biotechnology company launching Wednesday is taking aim at Parkinson’s disease and ALS with a new gene therapy that ...