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.
Do our genes dictate how much sleep we need each night?
What would you do if you had 60 days of extra free time a year? Ask Abby Ross, a retired ...
Why personal genomics company 23andMe now worth more than $1 billion
Genetic analytics company 23andMe reported via a regulatory filing that it had raised $79 million in a Series E venture capital round ...
African American English is its own dialect, and learning to speak it is no simple task
Unless you’ve been on a media blackout this summer, you likely have heard the story of civil-rights activist Rachel Dolezal, ...
Are computers equipped to handle mass genomic data?
The computing resources needed to handle genome data will soon exceed those of Twitter and YouTube, says a team of ...
Epigenetic ‘eraser’ can reset behavior, disease vulnerability and life experiences
Many epigenetic changes that occur in humans in genetic response to the environment are erased within the embryo. Certain diseases, ...
New genetic analysis technique could vastly improve success of pregnancy through IVF
Human embryos created for in vitro fertilization, or IVF, can be subjected to a new form of analysis and classified ...
Misconceptions about genetic testing still too common among public
A recent Ars feature story about genetic screening generated quite a lively debate in the discussion thread. However, it also ...
Is romantic kissing a universal human behavior?
Scholars from a wide range of human social and behavioral sciences have become interested in the romantic–sexual kiss. This research, ...
Are Jews a genetic ‘race’ or ‘population’? 12 examples of Jewish genetic distinctiveness
Jewish communities around the word share certain genetic traits with each other — some of which they also share with surrounding populations. These ...
Fungal infection research targets drug resistance in search of better treatments
A study by a multidisciplinary research team, co-directed by Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), offers new insights into how virulent fungi ...
Things to know about women suffering from depression
While I don’t head out each day holding a placard that reads “ASK ME ABOUT MY DEPRESSION,” the subject comes ...
Brain confusion: Why it’s so difficult to find cures for mental disorders
Many mental illnesses still defy treatment. The problem may be that we do not "know" how the brain functions very ...
How the accidental discovery of CRISPR led to most powerful gene editing tool yet
When Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier discovered the most powerful DNA editing technology we know of, CRISPR-Cas9 — something MIT Technology ...
Does research on vaccines and biochemical warfare justify primate suffering?
They are the unsung heroes of the war on terror — or its hidden innocent victims, depending on your point ...
Understanding the biology of addictive behavior
Once, addictions were viewed as failures of character and morals, and society responded to drunks and junkies with shaming, scolding ...
Couples’ perception of partners’ attractiveness can evolve over time
It seems logical for people with high mate value to insist on comparable partners, and there’s some evidence that they ...
Bonobos’ tool use mirrors that of early humans
Bonobos can be just as handy as chimpanzees. In fact, bonobos' tool-using abilities look a lot like those of early humans, ...
How, exactly, does CRISPR gene editing work?
After having read a number things about CRISPR (and ZFN and TALENS – two competing techniques) I understood the results it could ...
American eugenics movement saw babies’ fitness judged at state fairs
Eugenics became a popular ideology in the United States beginning in the second decade of the twentieth century. Concerned with ...
Genetically engineered mosquitoes nearly eradicate dengue fever-spreading bugs
The results of a trial of genetically engineered mosquitoes intended to reduce their ability to transmit dengue fever have been ...
Children of genetically diverse parents are taller and have higher IQs on average
The children of parents who are more distantly related tend to be taller and smarter than their peers, according to ...
Why China won’t agree to moratorium on human embryonic gene modification?
In March, a group of US scientists requested scientists around the world to not genetically modify human embryos. They argue that the ...
U.S. researchers question inconsistent prosecution of scientific misconduct
Rare is the scientist who goes to prison on research misconduct charges. But on July 1, Dong-Pyou Han, a former ...
Conservation genetics turns to IVF to save rare livestock breeds
IVF — a procedure in which an egg and sperm are combined in a laboratory dish and the resulting embryo ...
French court grants legal recognition of surrogate children born abroad
France’s highest court has granted legal recognition to surrogate children, in a major turnaround that will make their daily lives ...
Pharmaceutical companies relying on genetic data to develop new drugs
To find out what exactly can go wrong when genes get out of whack, the U.S. government got the ball ...
Precision medicine inches along
More than a decade ago, we sequenced the human genome with hope that disease cures might soon follow. Finding treatment ...
