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.
Cooked food may have given humans evolutionary edge in intelligence
The human brain is an exceptionally hungry organ—an energy-guzzling appliance if ever there was one. As you sit still and ...
Modern Europeans descended from mingling of distinct migratory groups
Two teams of scientists — one based at the University of Copenhagen and one based at Harvard University — have ...
Papua New Guinea community shows genetic resistance to mad cow, other brain conditions
Research involving a former brain-eating tribe from Papua New Guinea is helping scientists better understand mad cow disease and other so-called prion ...
Genetics experts weigh in on CRISPR regulation
Nature has been closely following the ongoing discussion on CRISPR-Cas9, and what this remarkably easy and powerful gene editing technique means ...
Sorry, Jurassic Park fans: Scientists focusing de-extinction genetics on saving living species
De-extinction is based on the concept that extinction need not be forever. One way to save those animals and plants ...
Creativity-mental illness link not as strong as advertised in new study
Genetic variations that can collectively increase a person’s risk of being diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder can also be ...
Woman gives first-ever birth to child with ovarian tissue frozen before puberty
A case study reports on a young woman who gave birth to a healthy child after doctors restored her fertility ...
Some epigenetic changes in DNA are heritable, and research is beginning to explain how
In recent decades scientists have learned that DNA alone is not destiny, and they’ve been focusing on another layer of ...
With antibiotic resistance on the rise, what does the future look like?
Over the past 85 years, antibiotics have been miracle drugs. They’ve kept infections at bay and opened up a world ...
Many people avoid genetic tests for fear of discrimination
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is arguably the most effective law in the United States protecting people from misuse ...
Is treating disability a eugenics issue?
The latest issue of the American Journal of Bioethics examines the topic of new reproductive technologies and genetic diversity. A series of ...
‘Graph’ of human genome will reflect every possible combination of genes
The Human Genome Project was one of mankind’s greatest triumphs. But the official gene map that resulted in 2003, known ...
Scientists inject electronic device into brains, create cyborgs
No need to wait for the cyborg future—it’s already here. Adding to a growing list of electronics that can be ...
Genes may have helped Russians survive WWII siege
In September 1941, German troops and Finnish allies encircled Leningrad, trapping 3 million residents in the Baltic city famed for ...
Who’s your (ancestral) daddy? Family tree genetics might link everyone to King David
Companies claiming to pinpoint your ancestral village of origin or relationship with famous historical figures are likely telling you the ...
Creativity and mental illness share genetic markers
The notion of the tortured artist is a stubborn meme. Creativity, it states, is fuelled by the demons that artists ...
Swiss gay couple faces legal battle over child born through surrogacy agreement
On May 21, 2015 the Swiss Federal Court refused to register a male couple - who are in a civil ...
DNA analysis confirms schizophrenia has genetic roots
A paper published in Nature marks the culmination of a long debate about the genetic basis of a disorder sometimes considered psychiatry's heartland — schizophrenia. No ...
Are you smarter than a Neanderthal?
Neanderthals have really struggled to shake the view of being rather dim-witted, grunting brutes since they were first described back ...
Will new gene editing technologies kindle eugenic aspirations?
While the process of synthesizing and arranging genetic code has many processes, perhaps none has been as promising as the ...
New findings appear to bridge gap in origin of first life on Earth
How did life on Earth begin? It's been one of modern biology's greatest mysteries: How did the chemical soup that ...
Head transplants? Have scientists lost their minds?
Here’s something that will make your head spin: A Chinese doctor has been surgically transplanting the heads of mice—and he ...
GM mosquitoes that could reduce illness in Florida Keys face public opposition
A U.K.-based company, Oxitec, has altered two genes in the Aedes aegypti mosquito so that when modified males breed with wild females, the ...
New genetic test unveils history of viral infections
US researchers claim to have developed a single test that is able to identify past exposure to every known human ...
DNA, the ‘devious defecator’ and the right to genetic privacy
A poop paternity test may set legal precedents on privacy in the workplace ...
Is FDA-backed ‘Viagra’ for women a step towards gender equality in medicine?
After an intense lobbying campaign, a federal advisory panel recommended approval of what would become the first drug to treat ...
Glowing bacteria detect diabetes, cancer in patients’ urine
A Stanford-designed project has built a startling new tool for diagnostic medicine: living biosensors made of bacteria that glow a ...
