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.
Privacy concerns? Genetic testing companies pressed by US lawmakers
Pressure is growing on direct-to-consumer genealogy and genetic testing companies to be more transparent about their privacy policies, after the ...
How artificial intelligence could transform the ‘art of medicine’
Every patient is unique, and the art of medicine is the component of the practice that addresses such uniqueness with ...
3 questions to ask before buying a home DNA test
[One] DNA test found that my family’s dog, Teddy, is part pit bull, which comes as no surprise. Many rescue ...
Viewpoint: ‘Indigenous Ways of Knowing’ fad threatens to undermine rigorous medical science
[There is one form of] special pleading that is gaining some currency, and that’s basically carving out an exception to ...
‘Soulless, metallic robot dogs’ are headed our way
Earlier this year, [Boston Dynamics founder Marc] Raibert said the company planned to start selling its SpotMini robot dogs in 2019, and ...
With gene drives, we could delete’ an entire invasive species. Should we?
In a windowless London basement, behind three sets of locked steel doors and a wall of glass, thousands of Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes cling ...
Helpless at birth: Why human babies are different than other animals
Big brains and narrow hips were long blamed for the relative helplessness of human babies at birth. But the energy ...
Is there a link between food allergies and autism?
A new study from researchers at the University of Iowa reveals a link between food allergies and autism, though many ...
What can we learn about ourselves from studying the way animals communicate?
If you listen closely to the sound of birds chirping, you’ll hear that they’re taking turns. The same goes for ...
Viewpoint: Science hype doomed startup that promised to upload brains ‘to the cloud’
This past March, headlines suddenly flooded the Internet about a startup company called Nectome. Founded by two graduates of the ...
Using CRISPR to build a ‘massive library’ of tools to cure genetic disease
In the past few years, [David] Liu’s become one of the most brightly-shining luminaries in the rapidly advancing field of gene ...
Are biosimilar drugs reliable replacements for their pricier counterparts?
Biologics are complex molecules, modifying our immune responses to specific chronic inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or irritable ...
DNA spit test for prostate cancer risk?
A new DNA "spit test" for prostate cancer can identify men who have an increased risk of developing the disease ...
We’ve been dealing with bubonic plague for 4,000 years, DNA analysis of ancient skeletons shows
Recently, the examination of two 3,800-year old skeletons revealed the presence of a Yersinia pestis strain, famously the bacterium that causes plague. This ...
Fighting disease, not making money, focus of new Gates Foundation biotech institute
There’s a new biotech in town. And it doesn’t care about making money. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has ...
Why don’t men have longer, healthier lives? Blame it on the Y chromosome
New evidence indicates that the Y chromosome participates in an array of essential, general-interest tasks in men, like stanching cancerous ...
Rethinking the search for alien life: Let’s look for their space junk
SETI enthusiasts have devised all sorts of complicated ways for us to find signs of alien life, but a new ...
Here’s why so many of us are spooked by artificial intelligence?
[N]ot everyone is ready to welcome AI with open arms. In recent years, as computer scientists have pushed the boundaries ...
Genetically engineered monkeys? China is using them for autism research
[MIT genetics researcher Guoping] Feng now travels to China several times a year, because there, he can pursue research he ...
What we need to know about reports suggesting CRISPR can cause cancer
STAT’s story about CRISPR-edited cells often lacking a functional gene known to prevent cancer caused a bit of a stir... Cut to ...
CRISPR legal battle front: UC Berkeley wins pair of patents
There’s been a legal battle going on to determine which of the scientists whose research led to CRISPR’s discovery gets ...
2 brain tests could lead to better autism treatments
For the first time, new research from the University of Missouri provides evidence that there may be a correlation between ...
Did our ancestors’ development of complex tools spur the growth of language?
[A] new body of research [is] arguing that if not for our hominin ancestors’ hard-earned ability to produce complex tools, ...
Making a ‘monster’ with artificial intelligence—on purpose
Researchers at MIT have created a psychopath. They call him Norman. He’s a computer. Actually, that’s not really right. Though ...
We may owe our existence to plate tectonics
[T]here’s more to plate tectonics than earthquakes and eruptions. A wave of new research is increasingly hinting that Earth’s external ...
Growing replacement organs? New synthetic ‘boss’ cell could be key
The field of developmental biology is dedicated to one of the fundamental wonders of the universe: How do complex biological ...
Viewpoint: Do-it-yourself biotech movement an ‘unlikely biosecurity threat’
Contrary to alarmist headlines, the DIYbio movement is an unlikely biosecurity threat. The 'do-it-yourself' biology (DIYbio) community has had its ...
Will CRISPR gene editing disrupt or perpetuate global health and medical social inequalities?
On [June 3 and 4], hundreds of scientists, industry folk, and public health officials from all over the world filled ...
