Health & Medicine
Through the study and use of genetics, we can identify measures that could lead to the improvement of human health and wellness. These methods and procedures aim to prevent years of chronic disease and thousands of dollars in health care costs, and provide families and communities with knowledge of how to live healthier.
Below is the complete archive of related articles sorted by date.
How choosing genetically similar partners shapes our genomes
Chances are, you’re going to marry someone a lot like you. Similar intelligence, similar height, similar body weight. A new ...
Exploring national security risks related to gene editing
Technology is advancing exponentially and the exciting field of genome editing is no exception. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison ...
Nano-mapping DNA mutations with CRISPR could transform disease treatment
A team of scientists led by Virginia Commonwealth University physicist Jason Reed, Ph.D., have developed new nanomapping technology that could ...
Dolly the sheep revisited: Early health fears about clones ‘greatly exaggerated’
[L]ast year, Kevin Sinclair, a developmental biologist at the University of Nottingham, published a paper about several clones including Dolly’s four “sisters,” who ...
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO movement perpetuates sexism, food insecurity
An acronym that conjures specters like pesticides, cancer, obesity, the transformation of life forms into intellectual property, and corporate control ...
EU renews glyphosate herbicide license for 5 years, ending ‘heated debate’
EU countries approved on Monday [Nov. 27] the use of weed-killer glyphosate for the next five years after a heated ...
Viewpoint: GMO crops are future of African farming—if anti-biotech activists get out of the way
[I]nfluenced by European environmentalists, most African countries forbid the growing of genetically modified crops. This is a pity, because unless ...
Evidence ancient humans not ‘violent apes’ but distinctly compassionate
[Editor's note: Penny Spikins is an archaeologist who specializes in early prehistory and human origins.] Yes, there is evidence of interpersonal violence ...
Viewpoint: Cost of gene therapy could put experimental treatments out of reach for most
Drugs that modify human genes have the potential to cure intractable diseases with just one treatment. Few could disagree that's ...
Canadian researchers can’t use CRISPR in human embryo research
In the United States, using genetic engineering techniques such as CRISPR to make genetic alterations that can be passed on ...
FDA details risk-based cellular therapy and regenerative medicine guidelines
The FDA has issued two final guidances and two draft guidances, all designed to articulate the agency’s approach to developing ...
Anti-biotechnology fake news: ‘Natural News’ claims RNAi used to ‘eliminate black people’
Anti-GMO campaigners are promoting a new conspiracy theory conflating the pioneering genetics technology of RNAi with anti-vaxxer myths and a ...
Food, vaccines and medicine: How plant scientists are changing the world
[Editor's note: Erica Hawkins is a PhD student at the John Innes Centre and the University of East Anglia studying medicinal plant ...
Argentina authorizes new herbicide-resistant GMO soybean seeds
Argentina authorized on Friday [Nov. 24] the use of genetically modified soybean seeds resistant to herbicides other than glyphosate, as ...
French scientist calls for inquiry into IARC’s ‘misbehavior’ on glyphosate cancer study
Following revelations that IARC withheld data showing the herbicide glyphosate does not cause cancer, French molecular geneticist Marcel Kuntz calls ...
France to vote against 5-year EU renewal of glyphosate herbicide
France will vote against a five-year extension of the license for weed-killer glyphosate that the European Commission will propose on ...
Women may have something to gain from male infertility
The plot of P.D.James’s dystopian novel The Children Of Men revolves around a provocative thought experiment: what would happen if ...
Checkpoint inhibitors fight cancer–but can have nasty side effects
Yale University immunologist Kevan Herold spoke about a few of his newest diabetes patients to an unlikely audience: oncologists and ...
African Seed Trade Association announces support for GMOs
A continental seed body on Friday [Nov. 17] supported the coexistence of genetically modified (GMO) seeds and conventional ones. The ...
Genetics can’t determine your indigenous heritage
Collectively, genetics studies have shown us that the indigenous inhabitants of the Americas are descended from a group that diverged ...
Genetics of mental health yield surprising connections but no cures
Scientists are slowly uncovering the genes and mechanisms that cause mental health disorders, but we are a long way from ...
Golden Potatoes: Vitamin-A fortified GMO variety could help tackle childhood blindness in Africa
We've been praising the development of Golden Rice, genetically engineered to contain the vitamin A precursor beta-carotene, for years. Since vitamin ...
Despite the hype, there was no ‘successful’ human head transplant
In February 2015, Sergio Canavero appeared in this very publication claiming a live human head will be successfully transplanted onto ...
Fighting Zika: Gene edited, 3-eyed flightless mosquitoes
[I]n an effort to demonstrate how gene editing could be used to eradicate the mosquito species Aedes aegypti —a major carrier of ...
New T-cell treatment shows promise for treating leukemia
A new way of genetically altering a patient’s cells to fight cancer has helped desperately ill people with leukemia when ...
Fighting aging: Mutation found in Amish population adds 10 years to lifespan
New research now shows that some humans possess a genetic equivalent to [an anti-aging] drug. A small number of Amish people in ...
Viewpoint: FDA should crack down on food safety misinformation
[Editor's note: Val Giddings is a senior fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. The following is part of a letter ...
