Health
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.
Precision medicine revolution moves to developing world
Colon cancer is less common in India than in the U.S., but it tends to affect younger people and to ...
Is Alzheimer’s blood test too good to be true?
Anyone who has ever visited a doctor’s office is familiar with the use of blood tests for the diagnosis of ...
Humans who can’t feel pain pointing way to non-addictive painkillers
Genes linked to pain detection and perception may be physiological targets for new, non-addictive painkillers ...
Short bursts of brain activity during sleep may be key for memory consolidation
Sleep is essential for memory. Mounting evidence continues to support the notion that the nocturnal brain replays, stabilizes, reorganizes, and ...
Baby making moves from bedroom to the laboratory
The future of baby-making is not in a bed, or in the back seat of a car. It's in a ...
Developing world eclipsing Europe as biotech incubator, crops with consumer-focused traits poised for market
Acrylamide is . . . . proven to increase the risk of cancer. . . . in 2002 when Swedish scientists found ...
Oregon winemaker say organic vineyards not sustainable
“Organic practices have bred a class 11 resistant powdery mildew (PM) critter. OSU sent out a bulletin saying if you ...
Genes major influence on academic achievement–and that makes leftists uncomfortable
A massive and fast growing field in science—behavioral genetics—has a huge body of conclusive evidence that, at first reading, seems at ...
Business booming for stem cell therapy clinics despite dearth of evidence of effectiveness
Out of nowhere, over the past two to three years, the clinics have sprung up — 570 in the United ...
Future of regenerative medicine may be making human tissue from fruits
In the high-ceilinged basement lab, the ear lies flat, encapsulated in a dish on a sheet-metal cabinet. It’s actually a ...
Are Olympic athletes using ‘gene doping’ to improve performance?
The World Anti-Doping Agency, WADA, which advises the Olympics and other sports organizations on illicit performance-enhancement, has accused Russia of ...
Neuroscientists revisit horrific 1966 Texas tower massacre
Smart, strong, talented and popular, the young Charles Whitman seemed, outwardly, like a poster child for the “all-American boy” stereotype ...
Craig Venter’s goal is to sequence 100 million genomes
[Craig] Venter’s goal is to sequence at least one million genomes, something that seems likely to take the better part of ...
Bacteria that resides in our nose produces MRSA killing antibiotic
A new antibiotic that has, quite literally, emerged from the human nose. The compound is produced by one species of ...
Is egg freezing too expensive to help women who could benefit most from procedure?
In the US, the marketing of egg freezing as a kind of insurance policy for millennials is already in full ...
GMOs in fight against Zika more than just about eliminating mosquitos
The shadow of the Zika virus hangs over the Rio Olympic Games, with visitors and even high-profile athletes citing worries ...
Patients under hypnosis exhibit distinct patterns of brain activity
Psychiatrists have been using hypnosis on patients for decades — to help them reduce their pain or kick a smoking ...
Belgian lab tapping genetics of yeast to brew better beer
Kevin Verstrepen’s lab meetings can be pretty boozy affairs. Twice a week, several members of his group at Belgium’s University ...
Gene common among Samoans is strongest genetic predictor of obesity
It could be in your DNA. A gene variant that increases a person’s obesity risk by 30 to 40 per ...
Transgender identity not mental health disorder study says, despite WHO designation
People who identify as transgender should not be considered to have a mental health disorder, according to a new study ...
Donations from viral hit ‘ice bucket challenge’ lead to breakthrough gene discovery for ALS
The campaign that encouraged millions of people to dump buckets of ice-cold water over their heads raised enough money to ...
Tale of two sites: Science communication pitfalls covering Alzheimer’s drug
The same drug trial has been covered in completely different ways by various news outlets. It serves as a lesson ...
Severe genetic birth defects not as lethal as doctors once thought
Parents of newborns with rare genetic conditions used to hear the grim words that the severe birth defects were “incompatible with ...
Genetics might help grow perfect cup of coffee
Coffee is in danger around the world, but experimental farmers want to save it by finding a variety that can ...
Americans disinterested in using science to build better humans
Americans aren’t very enthusiastic about using science to enhance the human species. Instead, many find it rather creepy. A new ...
Y-chromosome not going extinct, but losing it may be risk factor for Alzheimer disease
The story of the Y chromosome began about 300 million years ago, when the ancestors of mammals diverged from reptiles ...
How gene-swapping microbes helped humans evolve
Bacteria have been carrying out these horizontal gene transfers, or HGT for short, for billions of years. But it wasn’t ...
