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.
Is the ‘hug hormone’ key to reversing social skills deficits?
Oxytocin has been of keen interest to neuroscientists since the 1970s, when studies started to show that it could drive ...
Transfusions with laboratory-grown blood cells to begin trials
The first attempt at giving human volunteers “synthetic blood” made in a laboratory for the first time will take place ...
New genome mapping technique can explain tuberculosis susceptibility
The fight against tuberculosis (TB) has been extended through the use of a genetic mapping technique called admixture mapping. This ...
Despite continuing mainstream popularity, ‘Grain Brain’ author finds little support from medical experts
In recent months, the media has become increasingly impatient with high-profile health advocates who dispense unsubstantiated medical advice. Among the ...
Speed gene may explain why racehorses getting faster
Racehorses have been getting ever faster in races over all distances, a study of finishing times over the past 162 ...
Google Genomics teaming up with Broad Institute in DNA data analysis
A part of Google Cloud Platform, Google Genomics has partnered with Broad Institute, a biomedical research organization made up of scientists ...
CRISPR regulation can’t be left to scientists alone
This year, several leading researchers have sounded warnings about the risks of using the CRISPR gene-editing technique to modify human and ...
Who did modern Asian and European populations evolve from?
Modern Europeans can be thought of as compounds. The first element are a set of populations which descend from, or ...
Should men consider sperm-freezing to prevent age-related genetic mutations?
Younger men should consider freezing their sperm to avoid their children having genetic disorders if they choose to have them ...
Headlines tout Jurassic World in offing but scientists, journalists separate fact from fiction
A real-life "Jurassic World" with genetically engineered dinosaurs is an enthralling or frightening scenario — depending upon your perspective — ...
Scientists just calculated the total amount of DNA there is on Earth
The Earth is brimming with life, and within that life, is information, stored in strands of deoxyribonucleic acid: DNA. This ...
Does your brain’s memory have a max storage capacity?
Each day you accumulate fresh memories—kissing new people, acquiring different phone numbers and (possibly) competing in pi-memorizing championships (we would ...
French court debates legality of surrogate births abroad
France’s highest court tackled a sensitive subject Friday as parents challenged laws that effectively deny citizenship to surrogate children - ...
Pill that preserves youthfulness proposed for approval to fight age-related diseases
Doctors and scientists want drug regulators and research funding agencies to consider medicines that delay ageing-related disease as legitimate drugs ...
Could the world’s species experience another mass extinction? Maybe.
According to a study published in Science Advances, the current extinction rate could be more than 100 times higher than normal—and that’s ...
Bacteria engineered to sniff out tumors could help cancer diagnosis
Probiotics are hot. Bacteria that we consume in foods like yogurt, miso and pickles can help our gut microbiomes stay happy ...
Will genetic cyber-athletes come to dominate sports?
The era of the über-athlete may be nearer than most people think, and it will spark fierce ethical debates. The ...
Trials halted for Ebola drug after no results seen in human patients
One of the highly anticipated trials of an Ebola drug that showed promising results in monkeys has been stopped early ...
Neanderthal ancestors closer than previously thought, new fossil evidence shows
Modern humans and Neanderthals interbred in Europe, an analysis of 40,000-year-old DNA suggests. The study suggests an early Homo sapiens ...
Frederick P. Li, scientist who helped prove genetic link to cancer risk, dies
Dr. Frederick P. Li, who helped prove to a doubting medical establishment that heredity and genetics play a major role in some ...
Survivors of WWII Leningrad siege had superior metabolism, genetic analysis suggests
Analysis of the genome structure of Leningrad siege survivors and their contemporaries has allowed Russian scientists to spot specific DNA ...
Epigenetics can help humans understand our ancient past
Some types of epigenetic modifications are directly influenced by environmental factors. Thus, characterizing and understanding the "epigenome" can help us ...
Is the infinite universe of Internet pornography a danger, or an asset to sexuality?
‘The widespread use of internet porn is one of the fastest-moving global experiments ever unconsciously conducted,’ the U.S. science writer ...
Nanotechnology could lead to revolution in drug development
Monoclonal antibody research skyrocketed in the 1980s. By the next decade, they hit the market and today, some of the ...
Jumping genes make your genome not quite human
What if a gene from an insect insinuated itself straight into your DNA? What if more than a hundred genes ...
Transhumanist dilemma: Should we be allowed unlimited access to our own genetic information?
Up until recently, those in the technology industry and those conducting genomic research would have been considered strange bedfellows. But ...
Growing assisted reproduction industry raises questions about unused embryos
In storage facilities across the nation, hundreds of thousands of frozen embryos — perhaps a million — are preserved in ...
