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.
High IQ, long lifespan share common genetic underpinnings
By analysing data from twins, researchers found that 95 percent of the link between intelligence and lifespan is genetic. They ...
Cancer cells are ‘cheaters’ in Darwin’s vision of evolution
Maybe it was in “some warm little pond,” Charles Darwin speculated in 1871, that life on Earth began. A few simple chemicals ...
#CRISPRfacts media debate over Wired’s hype of gene editing technique
On July 21, WIRED magazine released its August issue with a cover story on the controversial new gene-editing technique CRISPR. Under the headline “The Genesis ...
Antibiotic resistant bacteria found in Australian wildlife raise public health concerns
Researchers have discovered antibiotic resistance genes are spreading to bacteria of Australian wildlife, which is worrying given the animals have ...
Personalized medicine, advanced genome coding advance to vastly improve medical care
We each have a biological map — the human genome — that can tell doctors a lot about us. By ...
Doctors offer solutions on how to best regulate rising prices of cancer treatments
Fifty years ago, the average monthly cost of a cancer therapy stood at $100 a month ($754.94 in today’s dollars). By 2013, ...
Some antibiotic-resistant bacteria can become even more virulent
We used to think that antibiotic resistance came at a cost for bacteria, making them weaker. It turns out that ...
Lawsuit challenges fertility clinics’ suppression of ‘free market’ for egg donations
How much is a human egg worth? The question is at the heart of a federal lawsuit brought by two ...
Breast reconstruction surgery receiving boost from stem cell technique
It’s hard to pin down exactly how many people get mastectomies in the United States. According to the Journal of the ...
New wave of HIV vaccines: Promises that can be fulfilled or more pipe dreams?
A cure for AIDS has remained elusive despite occasional if brief bursts of research optimism. We again are witnessing a ...
Backlash against Simon Copland’s Guardian claim being gay and sexuality are ‘fluid’: ‘We’re born this way’
In a recent Guardian article, Simon Copland argued that it is very unlikely people are born gay (or presumably any other ...
Imperfect vaccines may be making viruses stronger
The vaccines widely used by humans today — especially those used to protect children against mumps, measles, and other potentially deadly ...
DNA exonerates humans for giant sloths’ extinction, climate change to blame
New forensic DNA evidence is painting a detailed picture of the death of the world’s megafauna – and it suggests ...
Saving Earth’s biodiversity will rely on conservation, space agencies’ collaboration
Global biodiversity loss is intensifying. But it is hard to assess progress towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets for 2011–20 set ...
Don’t snooze, you lose: Sleep deprivation has long-lasting consequences for genes, health
There’s a new reason to go to bed on time: late nights, in addition to a multitude of health effects, ...
Children of donors seek greater transparency from sperm banks
A cultural phenomenon is growing these days in the world of gamete donation. The voices of the donor-conceived are growing ...
Can defenders of ‘traditional’ marriage find support from evolutionary science?
Writing in First Things, Ryan T. Anderson proposed a course of action for religious conservatives to defend traditional marriage in ...
Academic performance across subjects may be influenced by same set of genes
You may feel you are just not a maths person, or that you have a special gift for languages, but ...
Gut dwelling hospital infection linked to supermarket meats
One of the most common and troubling infections that occur in healthcare may come from an unexpected source, according to ...
Antibiotic-resistant superbugs even deadlier than previously thought
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria may be tougher superbugs than previously thought: Not only are these bacteria harder to treat, they appear to ...
Computer program hijacks 23andMe data, raises genetic discrimination concerns
23andMe bills itself as a company that "democratizes personal genetics" for the world. And that description's not necessarily all that ...
Natural genetic mutations inspire promising bio-pharmaceutical treatments
Steven Pete can’t feel pain. Timothy Dreyer has bones several times thicker than the average human. Both conditions were caused ...
Is there intelligent life in space? Stephen Hawking thinks so, and has launched massive search
More than a half-century after the first modern search for communicating extraterrestrial life, humanity’s quest to find intelligent beings in ...
Star Trek, synbio and sustainable food: Will Friends of the Earth and other activists block the future?
Far as we are from instantaneous synthesis of food on command, advances in synbio and genetic engineering offer a glimpse ...
Not ‘born this way’: Genes suggest sexual orientation fluid, not fixed trait
Gay rights shouldn't depend on how a person came to be gay, and we should embrace the fact that sexuality ...
Dating startup uses controversial / questionable science to help you find your soul mate
In honor of Valentine’s Day, Nazuki Andoh, 37, and Jesse Gronwall, 30, received a small kit in the mail. It contained ...
What has CRISPR accomplished in three years, and what are the dangers we’ll have to face?
Preeminent genetic researchers like David Baltimore, then at MIT, went to the Asilomar conference in 1975 to grapple with the ...
