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.
Video: DNA looks much different than what you might think
Biology textbooks like to depict DNA looking like an abstract spiral staircase, representing the classic double helix shape. However, real ...
Gene therapy 2.0: Will CRISPR make expensive treatment accessible to all?
Gene therapy, at a million dollars a treatment, will run up a patient's medical bill quickly. Can CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing ...
Kenyans sweep distance races, Jamaicans sprints: How evolution has shaped elite sports
The results of the Rio Olympics, especially in track and field events, reinforce the now widely accepted theory that evolution ...
Gene mutation linked to aggression and healthy body weight
Acting aggressive and reckless when drunk could be a sign that you’re a complete jerk, or it could be an ...
Parents turn to Prozac and other unproven drugs to help children with Down’s syndrome
Drugs that change the chemistry and structure of the brain could boost the intelligence of people with Down’s syndrome...[However, s]uch ...
Genetics key to why world’s greatest solo climber doesn’t feel fear
[Alex] Honnold is history’s greatest ever climber in the free solo style, meaning he ascends without a rope or protective ...
Curing diseases with embryonic stem cells proving much harder than expected
[N]o field of biotechnology has promised more and delivered less in the way of treatments than embryonic stem cells. Only ...
Potential benefits of human-animal chimeras vastly outweigh risks
If we had a cheap and unlimited supply of healthy organs for transplant, it wouldn’t just transform the lives of ...
Genes may play key role in timing of your first child, number of children you have
[W]hether you're 16 or 40 when you decide to have sex for the first time, you may think the choice ...
UC Davis prof argues three-person IVF not same as “life-saving treatment”
UC Davis Assistant Professor of Philosophy Tina Rulli published a report titled "What is the Value of Three-Parent IVF?"...If you have ...
Alternative to CRISPR–NgAgo gene editing–met with scorn and doubts
A controversy is escalating over whether a gene-editing technique proposed as an alternative to the popular CRISPR–Cas9 system actually works ...
Synthetic biology launches into new frontier
Researchers have built something pretty weird—an artificial stingray. The tiny creation, made of silicon, gold, and human muscle cells, was actually ...
Faulty stem cell clinics proliferate in Australia, leading to deaths
Australia has among the world’s highest concentrations of stem cell businesses advertising medical and cosmetic treatments online, despite a lack ...
Epigenetic Zs: Could a bad night’s sleep alter your genes?
Sleep deprivation can not only ruin your day, it may change your DNA ...
Video: CRISPR set to alter what it means to be human—is that so bad?
With the advent of CRISPR, a new age of genetic engineering promises to change everything we know about what it ...
Sensationalist media coverage of gene therapy provokes ethical concerns
Media coverage of trials related to gene therapy has portrayed the clinical research rollercoaster. [Recently], The New York Times ran ...
Scientists may have found gene behind hyper-sociability
[H]umans are social beings, an evolutionary trait that helped separate us from other primates millions of years ago...These genetic underpinnings ...
Over-heated fears of eugenics linger over today’s genetic research, threatening advances
'Genes can have up to 80 per cent of influence on students' academic performance.' When I saw that headline recently, ...
Olympic health update: Zika vaccines, GMO mosquitoes, and snake oils
There's progress on a vaccine to combat as well as biotech solutions but there are also fake Zika solutions being ...
Gene therapy revolution must address new ethical questions
[In 2015], the United States federal budget included a rider banning certain types of gene therapy research, and that has ...
Massive growth in participants signals Human Genome’s “Facebook moment”
In June [2016], 4.1 petabytes of cancer data went online on a new platform...called the Genomic Data Commons. Four petabytes ...
Scientists see genes switching off in live human brains for first time
The switching-off of genes in the human brain has been watched live for the first time. By comparing this activity ...
Uses for DNA may spread to far-flung fields like archaeology and fine arts
In the past couple of decades, genetics has revolutionized fields such as...medicine. In the next couple, expect DNA to turn ...
DNA on half-eaten food may become incriminating evidence
A bite mark on a homicide victim’s skin is not an unusual discovery...With luck, a good match might help prove ...
Latest genetic engineering machine makes biotech research much easier
"It's one of the fastest-growing industries in America," said Orkan Telhan[, describing the biotechnology boom]... But the trouble with biotechnology ...
Machine learning helps uncover genetics of autism
Researchers at Princeton and the Simons Foundation turned the traditional approach on its head, teaching a machine learning algorithm to ...
Scientists already looking for better alternatives to CRISPR
The CRISPR–Cas9 tool enables scientists to alter genomes practically at will...But for all the devotion, CRISPR–Cas9 has its limitations. It ...
