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.
Doggy dementia: Here’s what you need to know to protect your pet
A large new study of 15,019 dogs enrolled in the Dog Aging Project, an ongoing investigation into canine illness and ...
Evolution is not linear: Here’s why Darwin believed there are no ‘higher’ or ‘lower’ creatures
Why is our species almost universally seen as the logical endpoint of evolution, with all other species serving as inferior ...
Trouble finding an antidepressant that works? A personalized genetic test could help
According to recent research conducted by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, pharmacogenomic testing may assist doctors in avoiding prescription ...
On the edge of science and ethics: This startup wants to create human embryos to harvest tissue for transplants
In a search for novel forms of longevity medicine, a biotech company based in Israel says it intends to create ...
Siesta science: Sleepy during the heat of summer? Evolution may be the cause
On the hottest summer days, you may find yourself dozing off in the middle of the day. In some parts ...
Why are women more likely to develop chronic kidney disease yet men experience more kidney failures?
It's well-documented that women are more likely to develop chronic kidney disease, but that men are more likely to develop ...
Viewpoint: ‘We are despoiling our planet’. Can we rescue humanity before it’s too late?
Our Earth has existed for 45 million centuries; and humans for a few thousand. But this century is the first ...
Elderly are more affected by COVID brain fog, but ‘cognitive rehab’ could be an effective treatment
Eight months after falling ill with covid-19, the 73-year-old woman couldn’t remember what her husband had told her a few ...
Chair of the Lancet’s COVID Commission — Jeffrey Sachs — believes US blocking real investigation of virus origins
Through his investigations as the head of the Lancet’s COVID-19 commission, Prof. Jeffrey Sachs has come to the conclusion that ...
New study suggests covid increases risks of brain disorders
A study published recently in the journal Lancet Psychiatry showed increased risks of some brain disorders two years after infection ...
Book review: ‘In Quest of the Historical Adam’ reviews tension between science and biblical accounts
In Quest of the Historical Adam is one of several books published in recent years that attempts to grapple with ...
Does de-extinction fervor distract from saving endangered species?
Since the 1990s, the endless searches for the marsupial in the wilds of Tasmania and Victoria have run alongside another ...
Long COVID: As many as 30% of victims suffer ongoing health issues
Thousands of long Covid patients across the globe are urging their governments to provide more help for the growing number ...
$2.8 million Zynteglo gene therapy: Bluebird sets price on one-time beta-thalassemia treatment replacing red blood cell transfusions
Zynteglo has become the first cell-based gene therapy to be approved in the US, getting the nod from the FDA ...
Narcissists are more likely to fall for conspiracy theories. Why?
Previous research shows that people identified as narcissists – those with an inflated sense of their own importance, a lack ...
Losing memory? Brain stimulation can help — but only for a short time
People’s ability to remember fades with age — but one day, researchers might be able to use a simple, drug-free ...
Why resurrecting near-replicas of extinct woolly mammoths might work
Woolly mammoths, the iconic giants of the last ice age, went extinct around 4,000 years ago. But one company is ...
Viewpoint: Who is to blame for glut of science misinformation? Maybe in large part the scientific enterprise itself
It’s all too easy to make outsize claims that sidestep the process of peer review. No publication should carry a ...
What future dangers might Artificial Intelligence introduce? Experts clash
There are teams of researchers in academia and at major AI labs these days working on the problem of AI ...
’Ahem’? Captive gorillas created a sound specifically to get humans’ attention
In a fascinating discovery, western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) at Zoo Atlanta have been caught summoning their keepers using ...
Have you been getting ‘winter viruses’ more often this summer? Here’s why
Across the UK, GP surgeries and hospitals are seeing an influx of patients with typical winter ailments, including coughs, colds, ...
Brain scans shown to be better at predicting student learning than traditional exams
Traditional exams and grades that educators have long used may measure learning less accurately than brain scans, according to a ...
Does the culture we grow up in influence the way we walk?
A child's manner of walking can tell a doctor a lot about their health and development. But the transition from ...
Challenging decades of demonization, LSD appears to improve human cognition
Researchers grew tiny brain tissue in their lab, which they exposed to solutions containing the powerful psychedelic drug LSD. Under ...
Tired from studying? Thinking hard actually causes buildup of toxins in your brain
It’s no surprise that hard physical labor wears you out, but what about hard mental labor? Sitting around thinking hard ...
At what age does male and female sexual desire peak?
Sexual desire can be understood as the experience of sexual thoughts, fantasies, and the motivation to engage in sexual activity ...
The downside of human intelligence
I recently read and thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Justin Gregg's new book If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal: What Animal Intelligence Reveals ...
