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.
Genetic variation alters efficacy of antidepressant
Long-term complications after heart surgery, which can affect memory and thinking, appear to be linked to particular genes. It is ...
Can genetics make weight gain inevitable for some?
The greatest gift I gave my children was my husband's genes. I'm not the only one who thinks that - ...
Craig Venter: “Hysteria and misinformation” spread fears about posting an individual’s genome
When Craig Venter published the complete sequence of his genome in PLOS Biology in 2007, in some ways, it was old news. Though ...
New gene therapy company launches
A new biotechnology company will take over human trials of two gene therapies that could offer one-time treatments for a ...
Kyoto researchers develop DNA software that can halt fish fraud
A group of researchers at Kyoto University has developed DNA barcoding software that can prevent the fraudulent mislabeling of farm ...
Test-tube baby boom: 5 million births and climbing
The world's population of so-called test-tube babies is booming, with half of the estimated 5 million children born through assisted ...
Westen Australian authorities allow first genetic screenings of embryos
For the first time, WA health authorities have allowed embryos to be screened to reduce the chance of a high-risk ...
3d cell culturing helps scientists investigate the gene expression associated with hair loss
Scientists have successfully grown new hair follicles from the skin cells of balding men. While the research team hasn’t yet ...
Do criminal DNA databases go too far?
When the state of New York expanded its DNA database last year, I didn’t give it much thought. After all, ...
Cancer cells evolve to outwit body defenses
Cancer is a disease of information, in which a cell becomes reprogrammed into a precision killing machine. In the consensus ...
Project BabySeq to test how knowing your genome from birth changes your life
Brigham and Women’s Hospital's Robert Green wants to know how having your complete genome sequenced at birth changes the course ...
Using genetics to save the world’s coral reefs from climate change
Similar to how agriculturalists have helped crops adapt to the changing climate, two marine ecologists are working to save the ...
Gene testing revolution: Disease prediction results skyrocket for whole genome and whole exome sequencing
New research suggests that focusing on the protein-coding region of our DNA that makes up about 1.5 percent of each ...
Biological clocks in our cells may make some more prone to cancer
Every cell in your body has a little clock ticking away in it, researchers report. And while most of you ...
What’s the real origin of the phrase “Junk DNA”?
As textbooks would have it, the term “junk DNA” was coined in 1972 by Susumu Ohno as part of his ...
Scanning genomes for recent human evolution
Continuing the unveiling of our top ten papers selected from the papers published in PLOS Biology over the last decade, ...
Adolescence: When drinking and genetics may collide
Many negative effects of drinking, such as transitioning into heavy alcohol use, often take place during adolescence and can contribute ...
Scientists change an organism’s entire genome
In an advance that could help battle disease and create new biotech materials, researchers at Yale and Harvard universities have ...
Genetics-based matchmaking services spring up in Canada
Scenario: you’re on a blind date and so far, so fairy tale. Your date has a great job, drives a ...
How do traits trickle down from grandparents to grandchildren? Partially by chance.
Personal genome sequencing allows us to take a closer look at inheritance and highlights the situations in which genetic and ...
New app allows users to access their genetic info from smartphone
A new smartphone app, developed by researchers at Tel Aviv University, will allow individuals who’ve had their genome sequenced to ...
Inside 23andme founder Anne Wojcicki’s $99 DNA revolution
There's a lot you can do for your child with 99 dollars. I took that money and got my daughter's ...
“Find and Replace” across an entire genome
It couldn’t be easier to make sweeping edits on a computer document. If I were so inclined, I could find ...
Difference in gene regulation between humans and chimps more complex than thought
Changes in gene regulation have been used to study the evolutionary chasm that exists between humans and chimpanzees despite their ...
New fossil suggest ancient human ancestors the same species: Homo erectus
The spectacular fossilised skull of an ancient human ancestor that died nearly two million years ago in central Asia has ...
Genetic analysis shows “Yeti” is actually a polar bear hybrid
Aw, shucks. Science goin’ off and ruining everything again for cryptozoologists. The latest blow comes from a UK geneticist who ...
Does finding cancer mutations lead to cures?
We don't have drugs to treat most cancer mutations. So how does hunting for mutations help? ...
