Daily Human Digest
Every day, the staff of the Genetic Literacy Project scours the Web for stories on a range of human genetics issues, including gene editing, regulations and bioethics, gene therapy, epigenetics, personal genomics, evolution, ancestry and artificial intelligence. We publish excerpts of those stories and encourage our readers to visit the original publications for the complete stories.
‘Thinness gene’ could offer genetically engineered weight control strategy
While others may be dieting and hitting the gym hard to stay in shape, some people stay slim effortlessly no ...
Cheaper gene editing poised to change the world ‘and even extend human lifespans’
Increasingly inexpensive genetic sequencing and engineering tools could upend everything from health care to fuel. Why it matters: This bio ...
Rise of the dinosaur may have been fueled by earlier mass extinction event
When it was alive, this large, crocodile-like reptile lurked in the swamps and rivers of the Triassic — a time ...
Understanding brain states: How your mind functions when tired, versus wired on caffeine
Ever wonder what happens in your brain to make the switch between down-and-out tired, and borderline over-caffeinated? As it turns ...
‘Automation is in a tailspin’: How the pandemic has disrupted AI’s ability to understand us
When covid-19 hit, we started buying things we’d never bought before. The shift was sudden: the mainstays of Amazon’s top ...
World’s first bionic eye could be better than the real thing
The world's first 3D artificial eyeball -- capable of outperforming the human eye in some ways -- may help droves ...
Obesity gene? Suppressing this variant could be key to weight loss
More than five years ago, a group of researchers from Norway and several other countries found an important clue in ...
Autistic children struggle with emotional control. It’s even harder for girls, study says
Emotion control eludes more girls than boys with autism, according to a new study of young people hospitalized for psychiatric ...
Tracking down the evolution of an essential human skill: self-control
Human self-control evolved in our early ancestors, becoming particularly evident around 500,000 years ago when they developed the skills to ...
Gene therapy could restore color vision for people who see the world in shades of gray
In a small trial in Germany, an experimental gene therapy improved the vision of nine people with total color blindness, ...
Experimental Parkinson’s treatment draws ethics scrutiny with wealthy donor selected as first patient
A secretive experiment revealed [May 12], in which neurosurgeons transplanted brain cells into a patient with Parkinson’s disease, made medical ...
How the stigma surrounding addiction keeps people from seeking treatment
Stigma is a problem with health conditions ranging from cancer and HIV to many mental illnesses. Some gains have been ...
Video: There were objections to Spanish flu lockdowns too. Bad things happened when critics got their way
During the Spanish flu era, officials pushing public health mandates to stop the pandemic in its tracks were met with ...
Do you miss or spot Hollywood movie ‘continuity errors’? Here’s how ‘change blindness’ works
Gaze at the top image of Ben Franklin’s famous kite study. Now, the one below it. See the changes? You ...
Ultimate fitness hack: Imagine being able to build muscles with a gene therapy
Trying to hack fitness is a multi-million-dollar industry; we’ve all seen at least one ad featuring a purported miracle product ...
Viewpoint: Did this philosopher disprove evolutionary psychology? ‘No—certainly not’
Subrena Smith, an assistant professor of philosophy at The University of New Hampshire, has made a bold claim in the ...
Even one can of soda a day could increase risk of heart disease, study says
Even one serving daily of a sugary soft drink is associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease. That's according to ...
Genetic analysis unravels East Asia’s history, highlighting migration of early farmers
Ancient genomics is starting to unravel the history of East Asia. The first large-scale studies of ancient human genomes from ...
Challenging evolutionary psychology: Philosopher attacks the field’s underlying scientific foundation
It’s not often that a paper attempts to take down an entire field. Yet, this past January, that’s precisely what ...
How long is sex supposed to last? ‘Normal’ might be shorter than you think it should be
In a Norwegian study published in the Journal of Public Health in 2009, 27 percent of men reported having premature ...
Johnson & Johnson halts talcum powder sales in the US and Canada, citing declining demand in the face of cancer lawsuits
Johnson & Johnson will stop selling talcum-based baby powder in the United States and Canada after being ordered to pay ...
Pandemic could give a boost to remote-monitoring devices that keep patients out of the doctor’s office
It was a shift that began long before the pandemic: Tech companies, health providers, and patients alike were increasingly looking ...
Drinking and smoking ‘of any level’ while pregnant may harm baby’s development, study says
If you're stressed or wanting to enjoy virtual happy hour with friends while pregnant, having a glass of wine every ...
‘AI in archeology’ pinpointing new excavation sites at an ‘unimaginable’ pace
Archaeologists have uncovered scores of long-abandoned settlements along coastal Madagascar that reveal environmental connections to modern-day communities. They have detected ...
‘This is what it feels like to be normal’: Experimental stem cell treatment shows promise against Parkinson’s
[Researchers planned] to carry out an experimental transplant surgery unprecedented in the annals of medicine: replacing the dysfunctional brain cells ...
Zapping the brain with electrical pulses allows blind patients to ‘see’ letters
Scientists sent patterns of electricity coursing across people’s brains, coaxing their brains to see letters that weren’t there. The experiment ...
How do dogs focus on key odors, while tuning out the rest?
“The question that we sought out to study here is, ‘how does [a] dog suppress this uninformative signal [such as] ...
Feeling a bit stir crazy during the pandemic lockdown? Blame it on human evolution
Humans are intensely social creatures. We all need company and social contact. But for many of us, being at home ...
