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.
Syphilis is surging in the US. Here’s why — and why it’s preventable
In the United States, more than 129,800 syphilis cases were recorded in 2019, double the case count of five years ...
A magic hour to go to sleep? Hitting the pillow between 10 and 11pm might lower risk of heart disease
Scientists in Europe have said that research into the links between sleep and heart health often relies on foggy recollections ...
Vaccine opponents often cite concerns about new mRNA technology. Can science dispel those fears?
Thanks to Moderna’s and Pfizer’s highly effective COVID-19 vaccines, “messenger RNA” has become a household term — and a source ...
There could be a genetic link between your mental health and where you choose to live
In a study published in October in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, researchers find one’s genetic risk for mental health conditions ...
Brain health: How to slow down the mind’s natural aging process
I have worked in the area of brain health for almost 20 years in my role as a psychiatrist, and ...
Another long-term study challenges benefits of moderate alcohol consumption
While the evidence on alcohol consumption varies from study to study, it’s generally thought that people who drink in moderation ...
How hot is too hot? Climate change likely to spark intolerable spikes in temperature and humidity
Will climate change spark increases in heat and humidity that could challenge human tolerance? As we careen toward temperatures that ...
All animals sleep — and scientists are still struggling to understand why
All animals sleep, even the diminutive roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans. Tinkering scientists have tried to genetically engineer the act out of ...
Hundreds of dog breeds have disappeared over the centuries. Could — and should — we bring them back?
The World Canine Organization officially recognises around 370 different breeds, including the fashion-victim Chinese Crested, with its nude, greyish body ...
What personality traits lead to living longer?
Recent research shows that several personality traits predict who will enjoy health into their 80s and beyond. According to some ...
How dangerous is plastic pollution? These facts may surprise you
Plastic is everywhere, and we have all heard it’s bad for the environment because it takes a long time to ...
Peanut allergy-curing dermal patch shows promise
Safety of a dermal patch for helping peanut-allergic children tolerate the ubiquitous legume improved over time in a 3-year, open-label ...
Viewpoint: Billionaires’ quest for immortality raises prickly questions about pathologizing old age
Welcome to the era of immortalists: scientists, dreamers and – crucially – billionaires, who want us to think of age ...
98.6°F: American body temperatures have been dropping for 200 years. Why?
Early last year, researchers in the United States combed Civil War veteran records and national health surveys and found temperatures ...
What’s it like living with high-functioning autism?
I knew I wasn’t like other people. But I had also internalized the idea that this was “fixable,” that I ...
Is there an evolutionary explanation for recent surge in child-free pet parenting?
I’m an anthropologist who studies human-animal interactions, a field known as anthrozoology. I want to better understand the behavior of ...
Mystery envelops Homo naledi child skull fragments found in South African cave
Named “Leti,” this is the first known skull belonging to a Homo naledi child—a fossil that’s shedding new light onto ...
How magnetic brain stimulation helped one man beat his decades-long struggle with depression
When Tommy Van Brocklin signed up for a trial of a special type of magnetic brain stimulation therapy that could ...
Could donated blood be transformed into lab-made replacement eggs for infertile couples? Silicon Valley is trying
Conception is the largest commercial venture pursuing what’s called in vitro gametogenesis, which refers to turning adult cells into gametes—sperm ...
Discovery of new species Homo bodoensis may clean up — or muddle — the human family tree
A new ancestor of Homo sapiens has been named by scientists as part of an effort to clean up our ancestry. Homo ...
Alzheimer’s spreads differently in the brain than previously thought
Researchers from the University of Cambridge in England and Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts report that they believe Alzheimer’s doesn’t ...
How does chronic noise exposure impact our health?
A noisy environment has many underrecognized negative impacts that have little to do with hearing per se. Chronic noise exposure, ...
Why is it so hard to keep the pounds off after losing a lot of weight?
According to the University of Michigan, about 90% of people who lose significant amounts of weight, whether through diets, structured ...
Breastfed babies at lower risk of contracting antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’
Breastfeeding has been associated with many health benefits for mothers and their babies, including stronger immune systems for the children. ...
BrainGate: Opening the door for paralyzed patients to use computers
In a 12-by-20-foot room at a skilled-nursing facility in Menlo Park, California, researchers are testing the next evolution of the ...
Drugs, sex and DNA: Your moral attitudes are partly baked into your genes
Few hallmarks of the 1960s counterculture stand out like sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll—elements of a "lifestyle" that Life magazine once ...
Link found between tendency to jump to conclusions and conspiratorial thinking
To be sure, some people go over every detail exhaustively before making a choice, and it’s certainly possible to overthink ...
