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.
Appreciating nature’s beauty and symmetry without attributing it to a creator
I remember the chill I felt, 27 years ago, when I picked up the latest edition of Scientific American magazine ...
Proteins could keep gut cells alive after chemotherapy or radiation attack
A protein that keeps gut cells alive could be key to surviving acute radiation syndrome. Tests in mice of a ...
Girls who never grow up offer clues for aging research
An exceptionally rare genetic disorder causes a handful of girls to never age. Could they offer clues to help us ...
Sequencing cancer genomes, rather than testing specific genes is future of treatment
In the march toward personalized medicine, genotyping cancers has become more and more complex. Panels that pick up variations in ...
Synthetic bio breakthrough: Flies that make new amino acids
The genetic code of the fruit fly Drosophila has been hacked into, allowing it to make proteins with properties that ...
Clues in polar bear genes may help understanding of obesity
It turns out that the largest land predators alive have a host of genetic tricks to help them survive their ...
Sharks’ immune system proteins may help treat and diagnose cancer
Sharks and humans last shared a common fishy ancestor about 500 million years ago. Ever since, the two lineages have ...
Genes matter: People marry mates with similar DNA but different immune systems
DNA research suggests that the adage that opposites attract is off base when it comes to marriage. Humans pick spouses ...
We can read your DNA … but how well can we understand it?
The Boston Globe's Carolyn Johnson has penned an important reminder that "the facts about your genes are not necessarily facts ...
Uploading his brain to computer, neuroscientist looks for key to extending life
In the back of the audience, carefully reviewing his notes, sat Randal Koene, a bespectacled neuroscientist wearing black cargo pants, ...
Stem cell tumor risk low after treatments
A major concern over using stem cells is the risk of tumours: but now a new study shows that It ...
Men and women have different gene expression in MS, pointing to sex differences in treatments
In mouse models and in humans, females susceptible to multiple sclerosis (MS) produce higher levels of the blood vessel receptor ...
Sequencing the Golden Eagle genome to help the birds avoid wind turbines
[A]n estimated 70 golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) are killed annually at even a single large wind farm - the Altamont Pass ...
Analyzing genes of mouth bacteria can detect pancreatic cancer
Patients with pancreatic cancer have a different and distinct profile of specific bacteria in their saliva compared to healthy controls ...
Bacteria in isolation mutate more
Bacteria that have no friends don’t get sad; they get weird. When E. coli cells sense fewer other bacteria around ...
“Foreign” genes naturally jump between species, clouding anti-GMO criticism
In the paste of Roquefort and on the surface of Camembert, the microscopic filamentous fungi Penicillium roqueforti and Penicillium camembertii ...
Was Nicholas Wade too speculative on race in “A Troublesome Inheritance”?
New York Times science writer Nicholas Wade’s main claim in his new book "A Troublesome Inheritance" is that human races ...
Japan’s STAP stem cell controversy deepens as accusations of misconduct focus on investigating panel
Members of the RIKEN institute committee that found Haruko Obokata -- of STAP stem cell infamy -- guilty of misconduct ...
De-masculizing RNA determines sex in silkworms, a new pathway for sex determination in animals
In the silk business, sex is money. Male silkworms weave cocoons with more silk of a higher quality than females ...
Gene test can predict when women will deliver prematurely
A blood-based diagnostic test accurately predicted whether 70% of female study participants with threatened preterm labor (TPTL) would or would ...
On earwax, body odor and culture: A genetic explanation
When I was in college a Korean American friend confided to me that his roommate had an issue. He had ...
Orchard of knowledge: Artist will insert Wikipedia’s catalog into DNA of apple trees
Last year, Joe Davis, the artist in residence at George Church’s genetics lab, at Harvard Medical School, received an unmarked ...
Mutations in gene causes metabolic syndrome in Iranian families
Genetic mutations causing an inherited form of the metabolic syndrome have been found, with implications for drug development across diabetes, ...
Ultra strong measles vaccine cures woman of cancer
In a breakthrough that could offer new hope to people with some kinds of cancer, Mayo Clinic researchers say they ...
Humans’ love of watching animals is hardwired
Humans derive pleasure watching animals in zoos, nature and in popular culture. Beyond their uses as food sources and domestic ...
Oldest fossil sperm is huge, poses evolutionary conundrum
Scientists find sperm inside 17-million-year-old shrimp -- but it's not just any sperm. It's longer than the animals that made ...
Species decline? Long term biodiversity study documents new species on rise
The diversity of the world's life forms -- from corals to carnivores -- is under assault. Decades of scientific studies ...
