Personalized Medicine
Genetic genealogy leader 23andMe going public. What will that mean for your data?
California-based 23andMe will merge with Virgin Group’s VG Acquisition Corp and raise a further $250 million from new investors, [British ...
Human behavioral ecology: The tight ‘evolutionary embrace’ of culture and genes
[Research by Toman Barsbai and colleagues shows] that adaptation to local ecological conditions is an important determinant of variation in human ...
Eugenics? As embryo screening opens-wide the door to manipulate human traits, notions of normalcy and deviancy, fitness and disability, are changing
With the dramatic expansion of new blood tests, many more pregnant mothers are testing their fetuses for 'defects' such as ...
Viewpoint: Reducing the number of Down syndrome births is a form of eugenics
No one should underestimate the complexity and difficulty of deciding whether to test for Down syndrome or terminate a pregnancy ...
How DNA and genetic genealogy helped catch one of the world’s most notorious murderers, the Golden State Killer
The dramatic arrest in 2018 of Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. was all the more astounding because of how detectives said ...
Vegetarianism might be in your genes: Study suggests genetic predisposition to a meat-free diet
Analysis of the genomes of British vegetarians found a link between their rejection of meat and mutations in their DNA ...
Genetic genealogy launched 20 years ago with a whimper. Here’s where we are now
Lots of people have had more time to focus on genealogy in 2020, so let’s take a look at what’s ...
Neanderthals, COVID-19 and you: Exploring how our inherited genes are harming us and could have decimated our hominid ancestors
[Researchers Svante] Pääbo and colleague Hugo Zeberg announced that the major genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19 is inherited from Neanderthals… By ...
People with certain DNA sequences are much likelier to get severe COVID. Is that you?
A new study of thousands of COVID-19 patients has revealed eight genetic sequences that are more common in people who ...
How our genes shape our facial features
"The face tells the outside world about your identity, who you are related to, where your ancestors come from and ...
Reflecting on ‘The Queen’s Gambit’: Are women genetically hardwired to underperform men in chess?
Unlike the wildly popular Netflix chess-themed series The Queen’s Gambit, female players have struggled to climb to the top of ...
Your personal genetic makeup can determine whether you respond to a treatment, get worse, or even die
Henk-Jan Guchelaar knows all too well the serious problems that the side-effects of medication can cause. As a professor of clinical pharmacy at the ...
7,000 and counting – That’s how many diseases are linked to mutations that could be corrected with gene editing
Researchers have already identified DNA errors as the cause of nearly 7,000 diseases. Thankfully, the growing world of genome editing could ...
Reopening cold cases: The new tools revolutionizing DNA crime detection
Puzzle solvers by nature, genealogists tie the loose ends of a person’s familial tapestry for answers… It’s an emerging practice ...
The growing tachysensia community: What is it like when our mind’s speedometer goes awry?
Drive for an hour at 65 mph on an interstate alongside other vehicles moving at similar speeds. Then take an exit ...
Free will vs genetics: How much do our genes shape our actions?
Many of us believe we are masters of own destiny, but new research is revealing the extent to which our ...
What does it take to run a 2-hour marathon? (It’s in the genes, and East Africans have them)
Elite runners need a specific combination of physiological abilities to have any chance of running a sub-two-hour marathon, new research shows ...
Level the playing field: Genetics makes us not only different but unequal. CRISPR could change that. Should we do it?
Over the past decade, economists, sociologists and psychologists have begun collaborating with geneticists to investigate how genomic differences among human ...
Cancer breakthrough replacing chemotherapy? Israeli scientists use CRISPR gene editing to snip DNA and kill killer cells
The CRISPR Cas-9 gene editing system allows scientists to make precise alterations to DNA, and gained creators Jennifer Doudna and ...
Many Americans have ‘Native American DNA’. What does that mean?
Whether or not you have “Native American DNA,” it’s important to understand what it means — and doesn’t mean — ...
30+ genes identified that could protect us from COVID, opening door to gene therapy prevention solutions
The goal was two-fold: to identify the genes that make human cells more resistant to SARS-CoV-2 virus; and test existing ...
Are Sudanese Arabs?
Sudan, once the largest and one of the most geographically diverse states in Africa, split into two countries in July ...
Precision medicines addressing unique diseases are poised to become more accessible
Today, companies are developing new models to lower the costs of manufacturing and bring [precision medicine] drugs to more patients ...
Large autism mutation risk does not increase as parents age, study finds
Spontaneous, or de novo, mutations can occur in a sperm or egg cell, or very early on in an embryo’s ...
Almost 50 years after brutal rape and murder, DNA cracks cold case, suspect commits suicide before conviction
For 47 years, the case remained cold, with little evidence of who assaulted and murdered [20-year-old Jody] Loomis — until ...
When it comes to COVID, nurture trumps nature – so far
In the early weeks of the pandemic, as patients overwhelmed New York City hospitals, the clinical characteristics of the most ...
Difficulty falling asleep? The problem might be in your genes
People with [delayed sleep phase disorder] are unable to fall asleep until late at night (often after 2 a.m.) and ...