Daily Human Digest
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 ...
Will epigenetics play central role in advancement of precision medicine?
For many treatments it remains to be proven whether a drug's epigenetic actions, rather than another mechanism such as stimulation ...
Gene therapy recovery drug for $665,000 offered with money back guarantee
A gene therapy will be offered for sale in Europe with a money-back guarantee, according to GlaxoSmithKline, the company commercializing ...
Regulators find no harm in GM mosquitoes despite public concern
A type of genetically modified mosquito made by the British company Oxitec should pose no danger to the environment, US ...
Gene doping could actually make Olympics fairer
There have yet to be any confirmed cases of athletes genetically enhancing their bodies. But this could be because none ...
Does genetics separate Olympians from everyone else?
For decades, scientists have been studying the role of nature and nurture in producing Olympic athletes...What they've learned is that ...
End sex segregation in sport competitions? That denies genetic facts
From New York Times: What if, in some dystopian swim universe, [ace swimmer Katie] Ledecky was told that...she would have ...
Despite public fear against human chimeras, three already exist
The news that researchers want to create human-animal chimeras has generated controversy recently...But chimeras aren't always man-made — and there ...
Microbiome may bring revolution in personalized medicine
The microbiome...has the potential to change the way we diagnose and treat the most critical diseases of our time... [E]ach ...
Scientists successfully test three different Zika vaccines on monkeys
The race to develop a safe and effective vaccine against the Zika virus got one step closer [on August 4], ...
Olympic controversy over intersex athletes about to ignite?
It’s a ticking timebomb,” Daniel Mothowagae says...as he anticipates the furore that is likely to explode when Caster Semenya runs in ...
Congressman for Puerto Rico urges use of GM mosquitoes to fight Zika
As the number of Zika cases in Puerto Rico skyrocket into the thousands, Congressman Pedro Pierluisi, the island’s sole representative, ...
FDA: GMO mosquito has no negative impacts, opening door to November Key West vote on Zika eradication trial
On 5 August, the US Food and Drug Administration cleared the way for a planned trial in a small part of ...
Is crowdsourcing key to finding cures for genetic-based diseases like depression?
Fifteen gene loci are linked to depression using 23andMe user data in the most comprehensive study of the disease yet ...
Worries about artificial human enhancement persist among Americans
[According to] an extensive survey conducted by the Pew Research Center...[s]ixty-eight percent [of over 4,000 Americans] were somewhat or very ...
Cancer doctors optimistic over success of immunotherapy
Harnessing the immune system to fight cancer, long a medical dream, is becoming a reality. Remarkable stories of tumors melting ...
Why men may have evolved better than women at reconciling with rivals
Men's historical dominance of the workplace may, in part, be because of their ability to reconcile with enemies after conflict, ...
Have Democrats exploited Zika for political purposes?
The Zika virus is only beginning to hit the U.S. mainland, but its political exploitation is already an epidemic. ...
Neither good ‘microbes’ nor ‘bad microbes’ truly exist
[For centuries,] [m]icrobes became synonymous with squalor and sickness. They became foes for us to annihilate and repel. Today, we ...
Cell therapy could deliver huge blow against cancer
Dr. [Steven] Rosenberg, Dr. Carl H. June...and Dr. Michel Sadelain...have been at the forefront of this research for decades,...[bringing] to ...
Boy’s remains, 3-D recreation offer insight into progression of human speech
He was a young boy of about 10 who died in the rugged hills of what is now the southern ...
Gene fix for muscle wasting may help improve gene treatments, save lives
The breakdown of muscle often accompanies chronic or long-term disease, making disease worse and sometimes hastening death, and doctors have ...
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 ...
Recent cultural differences accelerated evolutionary changes in modern humans
The first solid evidence of natural selection in recent human populations was found in blood. In addition to blood type, ...
Scientists gradually identifying genes linked to depression
In a key advance for the study of depression, a comprehensive scan of human DNA has turned up the apparent ...