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.
New GMO book shifts debate from science to fears of ‘corporate control’ of food and farming
The Pew Research Center recently polled Americans on their concerns about genetically modified foods. Predictably, given the popular consternation around ...
Producing ‘super foods’: Unlocking quinoa genome opens door to new breeding techniques
Scientists have successfully decoded the genome of quinoa, one of the world's most nutritious but underutilised crops. ... [P]rices for ...
Ghanaian researcher: Let science, not scare-mongering, guide our country’s GMO policy
[Editor's note: The author is currently a Ph.D. Candidate studying Plant Science at the South Dakota State University, Brookings, USA. He ...
‘Dark genome’ could yield answers to complex genetic diseases
The mysterious majority – as much as 98 percent – of our DNA do not code for proteins. Much of ...
Fighting brain cancer with weaponized human skin cells?
Human skin can be morphed into genetically modified, cancer-killing brain stem cells, according to a new study. This latest advance ...
Sleep to forget: Downtime helps our brains refine, sharpen memories
[W]hile scientists have long understood that our memories rely on connections being built between neurons in our brains, it's not ...
Millennial libertarian: ‘Stakes too high’ for Americans to ignore scientific consensus on GMOs
Despite the overwhelming scientific consensus that genetically modified foods are safe for human consumption, Americans are generally distrustful of all ...
Why do people accept biotech in medicine but not GMO foods?
[Editor's note: this article summarizes a paper (PAY WALL) published in the journal Annual Review of Resource Economics.] In a paper─ The ...
Only conspiracy theories left to challenge science consensus that GMOs are safe
I have been writing about the GMO scientific consensus for quite some time, because this scientific consensus for the safety of GMO ...
Health care, energy, food could be transformed by synthetic biology
[Editor's note: Excerpts are taken from an interview with three experts in the field of synthetic biology: David Berry, general partner ...
Rett syndrome, other diseases could be treated by waking silenced genes
Rett syndrome...is a neurological developmental disorder and is classified as a particularly extreme form of autism. But, unlike most forms of ...
Molecular ‘Rosetta Stone’ could provide insight into autism
Distinct sets of genetic defects in a single neuronal protein can lead either to infantile epilepsy or to autism spectrum ...
Annoyed by loud chewing? It may be all in your brain
Misophonia, a disorder which means sufferers have a hatred of sounds such as eating, chewing, loud breathing or even repeated ...
‘Window of opportunity’ to treat thyroid disease: Genetically modified stem cells
Scientists have found a way to efficiently engineer new thyroid cells from stem cells. The discovery, performed in mice, is ...
Battle over America’s waistline: How obesity affects having children and their health
On one side are social forces behind a “fat acceptance” movement seeking to normalize obesity or at least reduce discrimination ...
Races mingling, mixing faster than ever, and that makes us genetically stronger
Recent insights from the sequencing of hundreds of thousands of human genomes in the past decade have revealed that our ...
As food insecurity rises in Zimbabwe, so do calls to repeal GMO ban
Food is scarce in [Domboshava]... Weather changes, including harsher winters and shorter rainy seasons, have compromised the earth's soil so ...
GMO ban in Chinese province highlights major difference between public and government on biotech crops
Heilongjiang province, the bread basket of north-east China, has banned the planting of genetically modified (GM) crops – the country’s first ...
New GMO corn study: ‘Transgenic maize is as safe and nutritious as conventional non-transgenic maize’
[Editor's note: Researchers studied the impact of GMO corn on rats in a 90-day feed study. For background on GMO safety ...
Infographic: 5 popular foods genetically modified by humans–before GMOs
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to eat a completely "natural" diet? Well, for starters, you wouldn't ...
Review of neonicotinoids’ effects on human health finds few studies, ‘methodologically weak findings’
Prior to 2000, neonicotinoid chemicals were virtually unknown, by farmers or anyone else. They have since become the most widely ...
Hype versus hope: Deciphering news about stem cell breakthroughs
For many people suffering from disabling conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, spinal injury and paralysis, heart disease, and even cancer, ...
14 new childhood developmental disorders identified
The largest-ever genetic study of children with previously undiagnosed rare developmental disorders has discovered 14 new developmental disorders...[T]he research led ...
Video: Here’s how RNA interference works
RNA interference (RNAi) is a crucial process necessary for the regulation of gene activity. In essence, RNAi can silence specific ...
Random acts of kindness may be fueled by microbes
Why do people commonly go out of their way to do something nice for another person...and how could such altruistic ...
Resurgence in ‘mad cow disease’? Recent death sparks focus on mystery prion protein
The original wave of mad cow only infected a limited number of people with a very specific genetic signature. Can ...
Epigenetics Around the Web: The dangers of romance?
Epigenetics Around the Web is a weekly roundup of studies and news in the field of epigenetics presented by GLP ...
