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.
Should the US ban Chinese genomics companies? Fears rise about genetically-targeted ‘ethnic’ bioweapons
Intel officials have warned China is grabbing U.S. genetic info that could be used to create targeted bioweapons ...
Why is the Mayo Clinic promoting pseudoscience — ‘energy healing’ Reiki?
The Mayo Clinic is a prestigious medical institution with a deserved international reputation. It also promotes rank pseudoscience ...
The Olympics of the future: Transhumanist-supported Enhanced Games recognizes world records achieved with drug use, steroids and stimulants
Peter Thiel and two other venture capitalists, Christian Angermayer and Balaji Srinivasan, are now funding “the Olympics of the future.” ...
Viewpoint: ‘AI is already humming along in unseen and unregulated ways that touch millions of Americans who may never have heard of ChatGPT’
A growing share of businesses, schools, and medical professionals have quietly embraced generative AI, and there’s really no going back ...
Unique use of CRISPR gene editing is paving the way to treat cancer
New gene-editing approach to studying immune gene function could improve treatments for cancer, other diseases ...
7-20 years older: Cognitive fog from COVID-19 causes damage, shrinking and accelerated aging of the brain
A large and growing body of evidence amassed detailing the many ways that COVID-19 leaves an indelible mark on the ...
‘A walking experiment in hyper-vaccination’: What happened when a man chose to get 217 COVID shots in just over two years?
A 62-year-old from Magdeburg deliberately got 217 Covid-19 vaccine shots in the span of 29 months, new study states ...
Viewpoint: Revising ‘Right to Try’ laws could save children with rare diseases
A toddler is thriving after doctors in the US and Canada used a novel technique to treat her before she ...
Comparing weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Mounjaro
Drug Comparison: A plethora of new weight-loss drugs are now available in the U.S., but they aren’t necessarily the same ...
Viewpoint: 23andMe blames users for data hack that revealed names, addresses and genetic information of people with Jewish and Chinese heritage
23andMe pointed at people who ‘failed to update their passwords’ as sensitive data was offered for sale on forums ...
Japanese patients wait average of 15 years for a kidney transplant. Xenotransplantation to create pig-grown organs could dramatically enhance supply
eGenesis and PorMedTec plan to jointly advance the development of genetically engineered organs in Japan to address the massive unmet ...
Viewpoint: Causing more harm than good? How billionaire donors influence global health priorities
Charitable foundations led by billionaires might aggravate global health and other societal issues as much as they might alleviate them ...
Why did humans lose their tails?
A genetic change in our ancient ancestors may partly explain why humans don’t have tails like monkeys, finds a new ...
PCOS and brain health: Hormonal disorder underdiagnosed, affects 1 in 10 women — and is a sign of cognitive decline later in life
PCOS, a hormonal disorder which affects at least 1 in 10 women, has been linked awith potential cognitive issues in ...
Podcast: Evolution of altruism — If evolution favors the survival of the fittest, how did humans gain compassion and empathy?
Altruism Evolution: If evolution favors the survival of the fittest, where did the impulse to help others come from? ...
‘I’m actually present in my daily life and that’s incredible’: Breakthrough brain implant treats both epilepsy and OCD
Deep-brain stimulation is used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease and other conditions affecting movement, including epilepsy ...
Ozempic and body positivity: Inside the ‘industry-wide strategy to use plus-size influencers to sell injectable weight-loss medication’
When Virgie Tovar got an email asking her to promote injectable weight-loss medications on her social media, she thought it was spam ...
Medical marijuana for animals? Veterinarians test treating pets and zoo animals with CBD and THC
Many people and their doctors have embraced medical marijuana for health ills, treating pets and zoo animals with CBD and ...
The genetics of loneliness
Studies have shown the impact loneliness has on human health. The adverse health effects of loneliness rival that of smoking ...
Infections and intelligence: A virus could have been evolutionary spark that led to rapid evolution of human brains
A new study has unraveled a mystery that is key to understanding the course of human and animal evolution ...
Viewpoint: Consensus as truth? How ‘science misinformation police’ control policy narratives
There are many problems with the notion of consensus-as-truth and the (self)appointment of misinformation police to regulate discourse ...
Should you write by hand or type up your notes? Here’s how writing methods affect learning and memory
Typing may be faster than writing by hand, but it’s less stimulating for the brain, according to research published Friday ...
Cannabis and male fertility: Here’s how smoking marijuana affects sperm quality
A recent study published in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research indicates a potential link between cannabis use and an increase in testosterone, improved ...
Epidemic of severe infections of skin, scalp, and nails: Overuse of over-the-counter creams linked to antifungal resistance
CDC claims combinations of antifungal treatments with corticosteroids are contributing to the rise and spread of severe fungal infections ...
3D-printed brains: Brain tissue breakthrough could ‘change the way we look at neurological and psychiatric disorders’
Researchers have created the world’s first 3D-printed brain tissue that behaves like a natural brain tissue ...
Viewpoint: ‘Conversion therapy for gay and transgender youth is one of our darkest chapters. We shouldn’t inflict it on today’s kids’
New bills aim to create a climate of panic around young LGBTQ people’s access to health care and participation in ...
‘Anybody could be my sibling’: How poor regulation of US fertility industry leads to accidental incest
A CNN investigation into fertility fraud nationwide found that most states, including Connecticut, have no laws against it. ...
