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.
Jon Lester, Mario Lemieux, Lance Armstrong—Why do so many athletes in their prime get cancer?
Why do some studies show that athletes--the fittest amongst us--show peculiarly high rates of some cancers? ...
Scientists turn mouse’s body transparent to study nervous system–Human brain next?
The technique developed by Ali Ertürk of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany and his team also shrinks ...
No need to fear GM mosquitoes, Mother Jones attests
Humans have made plenty of such blunders trying to control pests. Hawaii's mongoose infestation, Australia's poisonous cane toads, and Canada's thistle-eating ...
Gene editing will challenge ethics at Biological Weapons Convention
[T]he signatory nations of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) will meet [on December 2016]...to discuss the state of bioweapons globally...[T]he world ...
Success of adult stem cells buried under media misrepresentation
Stem cell therapies and their lifesaving results are arguably the best kept medical secret. Stem cells are currently being used ...
As the age of mother’s has increased, twin births have skyrocketed
Twins are very much in our consciousness at the moment...because we are living through a twin boom. A higher proportion ...
Losing genes may contribute to evolution just as much as gaining them
Traditionally, but incorrectly, an assumption exists that more complex organisms have larger genomes. As a result, biologists have tended to ...
Is domination of running by African descended athletes genetic or cultural?
[T]he white American liberal tends to worry that even talking about innate athletic aptitudes risks bolstering racist views – since ...
What is worst case scenario if genetically altered sterile male mosquitoes released to fight Zika?
[W]hat could possibly go wrong with unleashing a whole bunch of genetically engineered mosquitoes on a population? The worst-case scenario, according ...
Gene therapy breaking ground in treating Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s patients who take the drug levodopa, or L-Dopa, are inevitably disappointed...[when,] over time[,] the drug becomes less effective... A ...
CRISPR genome editing could be game changer in war against antibiotic resistance
Using CRISPR genome editing, researchers are starting a new trend, which is to strip pathogenic bacteria of their acquired armor ...
Caster Semenya’s running dominance raises question of sex tests at future Olympics
[The 2016 Olympics has] provided something of a crash course on the science of sex differences. That’s largely due to ...
Gene mapping may raise false hopes, some scientists worry
Harvard geneticist George Church is convinced everyone should have his or her genomes sequenced. Such tests would reveal the rare ...
Drug effectiveness depends on genetics
A Victoria University molecular geneticist says a wider range of drugs may need to be made available to ensure Maori ...
Brain’s glial cells may hold key to treating obesity
Some of the latest discoveries suggest that [glial cells] play complex roles in regulating appetite and metabolism, making them a ...
Sex testing should not be designed to suppress Caster Semenya’s born talent
[Caster] Semenya’s case is the latest saga in sport’s checkered history of sex testing, a task that is purportedly aimed ...
Scientists creating genetically engineered synthetic supermicrobe
It’s not finished yet. But if it is, it will be the greatest feat of genetic engineering by far. A ...
Latest gene therapy trials herald good news as drug developments escalate
It’s much too soon to tell whether the gene therapy that 12-year-old Hannah Sames had last month for GAN is having ...
Epigenetics, pregnancy and the Holocaust: How trauma can shape future generations
The fetus of pregnant moms who experience traumatic events are permanently effected? Are the changes passed down to future generations? ...
Differences between brain at work and at rest may influence intelligence
Your brain activity differs depending on whether you're working on a task, or at rest — and just how much ...
Researchers find 17 different genome locations associated with depression
A recent study...identified five independent gene variants from four genome regions that are associated with depression, raising hopes that we ...
Mitochondrial DNA reveals what Iceman Oetzi wore 5,300 years ago
DNA analysis of Oetzi the Iceman's clothes has traced their origin to at least five different species of animal. Among ...
Personalized medicine industry in distress over Supreme Court’s tightening of patent laws
Rejections for US patents related to personalized medicine have spiked after recent Supreme Court decisions tightened the rules for such ...
Anti-GM mosquito efforts may expose more people to Zika
[R]esidents in South Florida are in a unique position to become the testing ground for a promising new experiment that ...
‘World’s smartest physicist’ believes consciousness will remain unsolvable
Some mind-ponderers...argue that consciousness is unsolvable. Philosopher Owen Flanagan calls these pessimists “mysterians,” after the 60’s-era rock group “Question Mark ...
Large genetic database reveals how our individual DNA differs
ExAC...is a compendium of genetic information that...[is] so big that it is giving scientists a much more realistic vision of ...
Brains of schizophrenics may repair themselves over time
[Psychiatrist] Lena Palaniyappan...and other mental health professionals have noticed is that, unlike those with degenerative neurological disorders[,]...sometimes schizophrenia patients eventually start ...
