Health
Do East African distance runners dominate races due to genetics?
More than 10,000 athletes from 206 different nations will compete for glory in [the 2016] Olympic Games...But when it comes ...
Everything you need to know about CRISPR gene editing
CRISPR refers to unusual DNA sequences that help protect organisms by identifying threats – especially viruses – and attacking them ...
Athletes avoiding genetic test for concussion risks despite potential benefits
[The new APOE test is] an easy genetic test that promises to identify which young athletes are likely to suffer the most ...
Precision medicine threatened by sloppy, inefficient research
To the average American,...precision medicine sets a high expectation of a more targeted...[and] more effective...treatment. But all too often the science ...
GM mosquito critics brand Key Haven trial as “human rights” issue
For the last five years, the biotechnology company Oxitec has been developing a plan to experimentally release the GMO mosquitoes ...
Video: DNA looks much different than what you might think
Biology textbooks like to depict DNA looking like an abstract spiral staircase, representing the classic double helix shape. However, real ...
Parents turn to Prozac and other unproven drugs to help children with Down’s syndrome
Drugs that change the chemistry and structure of the brain could boost the intelligence of people with Down’s syndrome...[However, s]uch ...
Genetics key to why world’s greatest solo climber doesn’t feel fear
[Alex] Honnold is history’s greatest ever climber in the free solo style, meaning he ascends without a rope or protective ...
Curing diseases with embryonic stem cells proving much harder than expected
[N]o field of biotechnology has promised more and delivered less in the way of treatments than embryonic stem cells. Only ...
Potential benefits of human-animal chimeras vastly outweigh risks
If we had a cheap and unlimited supply of healthy organs for transplant, it wouldn’t just transform the lives of ...
Genes may play key role in timing of your first child, number of children you have
[W]hether you're 16 or 40 when you decide to have sex for the first time, you may think the choice ...
University of Pennsylvania’s Ashley Winslow uses crowdsourcing to hunt down genetics of depression
University of Pennsylvania's Ashley Winslow talks clinical depression, using crowdsourcing to find genetic markers ...
Gene mutation linked to aggression and healthy body weight
Acting aggressive and reckless when drunk could be a sign that you’re a complete jerk, or it could be an ...
Epigenetic Zs: Could a bad night’s sleep alter your genes?
Sleep deprivation can not only ruin your day, it may change your DNA ...
New Zealand’s EPA finds glyphosate ‘unlikely to be carcinogenic’
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) commissioned Dr Wayne Temple, a toxicologist and former Director of the New Zealand National Poisons ...
Faulty stem cell clinics proliferate in Australia, leading to deaths
Australia has among the world’s highest concentrations of stem cell businesses advertising medical and cosmetic treatments online, despite a lack ...
Sensationalist media coverage of gene therapy provokes ethical concerns
Media coverage of trials related to gene therapy has portrayed the clinical research rollercoaster. [Recently], The New York Times ran ...
Video: CRISPR set to alter what it means to be human—is that so bad?
With the advent of CRISPR, a new age of genetic engineering promises to change everything we know about what it ...
UC Davis prof argues three-person IVF not same as “life-saving treatment”
UC Davis Assistant Professor of Philosophy Tina Rulli published a report titled "What is the Value of Three-Parent IVF?"...If you have ...
Scientists may have found gene behind hyper-sociability
[H]umans are social beings, an evolutionary trait that helped separate us from other primates millions of years ago...These genetic underpinnings ...
Over-heated fears of eugenics linger over today’s genetic research, threatening advances
'Genes can have up to 80 per cent of influence on students' academic performance.' When I saw that headline recently, ...
Gene therapy revolution must address new ethical questions
[In 2015], the United States federal budget included a rider banning certain types of gene therapy research, and that has ...
Massive growth in participants signals Human Genome’s “Facebook moment”
In June [2016], 4.1 petabytes of cancer data went online on a new platform...called the Genomic Data Commons. Four petabytes ...
Scientists see genes switching off in live human brains for first time
The switching-off of genes in the human brain has been watched live for the first time. By comparing this activity ...
Olympic health update: Zika vaccines, GMO mosquitoes, and snake oils
There's progress on a vaccine to combat as well as biotech solutions but there are also fake Zika solutions being ...
Machine learning helps uncover genetics of autism
Researchers at Princeton and the Simons Foundation turned the traditional approach on its head, teaching a machine learning algorithm to ...
Will epigenetics play central role in advancement of precision medicine?
For many treatments it remains to be proven whether a drug's epigenetic actions, rather than another mechanism such as stimulation ...