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.
Halitosis: The genetic basis of bad breath
Most people would tell you that bad breath is brought on by a combination of bad luck and garlic. According ...
‘Müllerian mimicry’: Gut microbes ‘speak the language’ of your immune system
Müllerian mimicry is a well-studied phenomenon, particularly in butterflies, in which completely unrelated species come to display the same patterns ...
Luxturna gene therapy approved for vision loss
The first two novel gene therapies for cancer treatment passed through FDA approval earlier this year, first B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) followed quickly ...
Exercise and weight loss: 23andMe study to explore how much genes matter
23andMe, following a banner Christmas season for sales of its personal DNA-testing kits, has just announced a large-scale study intended ...
Even if you don’t believe in God, religion may shape your subconscious thinking
Although non-believers reject religion, Christian beliefs still shape much of Western thought. Both believers and non-believers have similar subconscious attitudes ...
Genetically modified healthier foods: Will consumers accept Cargill’s low-fat GMO canola oil?
Rich Fletcher spent 11 years tinkering with the genetics of the canola plant in pursuit of a single goal: Lowering ...
Mystery of anesthetics: Despite lack of central nervous system, plants too ‘pass out’ from ‘knock out’ drugs
Just like humans, plants can succumb to the effects of general anesthetic drugs, researchers report in the Annals of Botany. The finding ...
Hearing loss linked to single mutation might be treatable with gene editing
When David Liu first heard about a strain of mouse from his colleague Zheng-Yi Chen, he got excited. The mice ...
Should patients—not the FDA— have final say on risky gene therapy treatments?
Working with mice, researchers have used gene therapy to restore sight to the blind, reprogram the body’s own T cells ...
Looking back at 2017’s genetics breakthroughs
It was a big year for the building blocks of life. Here were the most significant breakthroughs in genetics research ...
How CRISPR gene editing is revolutionizing the world–and why we need to cautious about it
Until recently, gene editing used to be relegated to science fiction novels and movies. The idea of being able to ...
Gender differences: Do females recover more slowly from concussions than males?
A recent study of middle- and high school athletes found that the female athletes took twice as long to be symptom-free ...
How ‘minor insults to the brain’ could fuel Alzheimer’s
When it comes to the perpetrator of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the finger of blame has long pointed to hard deposits ...
How tricking mosquitos into thinking they’ve already mated could fight disease
If you thought the sex lives of humans were complicated, consider the case of the female Aedes aegypti mosquito, bringer of Zika, ...
FDA approves first gene therapy for a genetic disease—onetime cure for rare blindness
The first gene therapy to restore sight to individuals who suffer from a rare inherited genetic blindness was approved by ...
EPA reaffirms global scientific consensus that glyphosate herbicide does not cause cancer
The federal Environmental Protection Agency on Monday [Dec. 19] said glyphosate, the primary ingredient in the weed killer Roundup and ...
Italian family’s inability to feel pain spurs research on relief for chronic sufferers
The six members of the family barely notice broken bones or severe burns. Researchers have identified the mutation behind their ...
Self control a limited resource? Ego depletion theory gets a boost
For years, “ego depletion” has been a dominant theory in the study of self control. This is the intuitive idea ...
Why are children picky eaters? Genetics may play key role
Children who are picky eaters may have their genetics to blame, a study claims. Researchers from the University of Illinois in ...
Why we stutter
While the average American might not come across it on a daily basis, stuttering is a relatively common condition. So when ...
Tackling Alzheimer’s by boosting mitochondrial health
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and neurodegeneration worldwide. A major hallmark of the disease is the ...
Diabetes and anorexia might be treatable by inhibiting ‘hunger hormone’, mice study suggests
Scientists once had high hopes that inhibiting a hormone named ghrelin would be the key to preventing obesity. Ghrelin didn’t ...
Cancer treatment without chemotherapy? CAR T-cells could become the new standard
Although rare, it is not unheard-of for new treatments to achieve substantial early successes in one or two patients only ...
Agro-defense: Experts worry US could be caught off-guard by a biological attack on agriculture
The U.S. is woefully unprepared to cope with outbreaks of emerging livestock or crop pathogens and pests, whether those outbreaks ...
Birth defects in Brazil linked to Zika, not insecticides or vaccines
In the fall and early winter of 2015, a startling number of infants in northeastern Brazil were born with abnormally small ...
Treating spinal cord injuries by genetically modifying cells that help us smell
Researchers from the University of Bristol have just shared the promising results of a new treatment for spinal cord injuries that could ...
2017: The year gene therapy became a ‘clinical reality’
This year, gene therapy finally became a clinical reality. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved two personalized treatments that ...
