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.
21st century will be the age of precision genetics
Until now, it has only been possible to “edit” a living genome using dangerously blunt methods; modified viruses are sure ...
Making sense of gene additions and deletions in tumor cells
In a paper published last week in the journal Cell, researchers at Harvard Medical School shed light on a potentially critical factor in ...
Should you order a home DNA testing kit?
It’s one of the first questions you are asked when seen by a new doctor, “What is your family health ...
Amanda Knox trial: No DNA on knife to match to victim
New forensic analysis of the knife allegedly used to kill Meredith Kercher found no DNA match to the victim, the ...
Precision gene editing paves way for monkey models of genetic disease
A new precise technique for editing genes may allow researchers to to create genetically modified monkeys and develop treatments for ...
Your allergies may save your life
According to new research, allergies may have evolved in order to save lives by forcing sufferers to reject and expel ...
Canada considers genetic non-discrimination law
Physicians and patient advocacy groups say they support a proposed change to the Ontario Human Rights Code aimed at protecting ...
Should you have the right not to know genetic information?
Affordable genome sequencing has brought with it a host of ethical debates. Who owns the data? Who can access the ...
Genes shared by relatives influence brain aging
Early results from a long-term research project indicate that certain age-related declines in brain function are influenced by genes. This ...
Dolphins live in family groups, study says
The most common and well-known of their kind, bottlenose dolphins are famous for their roles in movies, television and water parks everywhere ...
Genotyping lung cancer linked to better survival
Genetic testing for personalized treatment of lung cancer was associated with improved survival, likely due to getting targeted kinase inhibitors ...
Being an egg donor or surrogate carries costs
It almost always starts with an emotional story: an infertile couple trying desperately to conceive; a woman diagnosed with cancer, ...
Always catching colds? Blame it on your socioeconomic status
New research says that low socioeconomic status is correlated with shorter telomere length and, interestingly, a higher propensity for getting ...
Woman denied IVF because fiancé has children already
A woman was denied the chance to have children when her NHS hospital refused her IVF because her fiancé already ...
New test to tell if your DNA came from mom or dad
In a development expected to improve the process of matching organ donors and understanding how genes contribute to diseases, researchers have devised ...
Genome sequencing: How much do you really want to know about your future?
This past July, the New York Genome Center opened its shiny new doors in downtown Manhattan. The massive, sparkling multi-million dollar 21st-century ...
DNA tests show adulteration, contamination, and mislabeling of herbal supplements
Americans spend an estimated $5 billion a year on unproven herbal supplements that promise everything from fighting off colds to curbing hot flashes and ...
New techniques swap out codons across the genome
The language of life has been rewritten. A bacterium has had its genome recoded so that one of its genetic ...
Whole genome sequencing at birth might change everything
The National Institutes of Health recently funded BabySeq, a project to sequence the genomes of several hundred newborns and determine ...
Mutations in the brain
Not all genetic mutations are harmful. New research shows that mutations within neurons may be incredibly common, and even sometimes ...
Genetic clues in mammals could unlock secret to anti-aging
For years, scientists have studied how to combat old age. Now, new research suggests that genetic clues in mammals with ...
Are we headed for universal genome screening at birth?
Nearly all of the 4 million babies born every year in the United States undergo newborn screening for genetic disease ...
DNA testing can help untangle roots for Africa-Americans
Interest in African origins surged in 1976 with publication of Alex Haley’s historical fiction “Roots: The Saga of an American ...
Earth’s first life may have sprung up in ice
If you thought life evolved in bubbling hot springs, think again. Pieces of RNA have been made that can copy ...
Your ancestors probably didn’t crawl
You have to crawl before you walk… unless you don’t. While crawling is considered a major developmental milestone in most ...
DNA testing is worth the potential loss of privacy
Should you be scared that employers would be able to find out from your genome structure that you carry the ...
We’re on the cusp of whole genome sequencing at birth
Professor Matt Brown, Director of the Diamantina Institute at the University of Queensland, predicts that whole genome sequencing at birth is about ...
