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.
Successful hand transplant relies on brain’s ability to rewire itself
Recovery of feeling can gradually improve for years after a hand transplant, suggests a small study that points to changes ...
Can you think your way out of the depression box?
A form of therapy that focuses on changing negative thoughts and behaviors is showing promise in the treatment of depression ...
How to address ethical questions of egg freezing
Apple’s and Facebook’s announcement last month that they would offer $20,000 health insurance coverage to women employees to cover the ...
When does personhood begin?
I went to a Catholic high school, where I was taught in religion class that life begins at conception. I ...
Genetic links found for male homosexuality, but some scientists skeptical
A large study of gay brothers adds to evidence that genes influence men's chances of being homosexual, but the results ...
Repurposing genetics to search for ‘healthy’ genes
For most us, the scientific promise associated with understanding the human genome exists in uneasy tension with the quiet terror ...
‘Fountain of youth’ likely found in genes, not lifestyle
Researchers have just sequenced the genomes of 17 “supercentarians” — people over 110 years of age — and conclude that these long-lived ...
DNA engineered as ‘hard drives’ for information storage
A new DNA-based recorder allows bioengineers to create cell cultures that detect information in their environment and store it for ...
Older father? Impact of ‘aging sperm’ on diseases
Worries about aging sperm — or, more accurately, sperm from aging men — are the same as the concerns about ...
EO Wilson, Richard Dawkins feud fueled more by arrogance than science
Last weekend, renowned evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson was interviewed by BBC Newsnight. In the course of the interview, he ...
Most Jews can trace ancestry to Middle East
Where did the Jews originate? For Bennett Greenspan, the founder and president of Family Tree DNA, there’s little doubt, and ...
Virus found in algae might cause cognitive deficits in humans
Many well-known human viruses, including poliovirus, rabies virus, West Nile virus, can infect cells of the nervous system, leading to ...
Exposure to mother’s immune response in utero may lead to neurological problems
Monkeys exposed in utero to their mother’s immune response to a mock infection show inflammation in their brains four years later. Researchers ...
Sex in space: What does the future hold when space tourism catches on
The recent crash of Virgin Galactic notwithstanding, we are on the cusp of an era of space tourism. We just ...
Human obesity and livestock growth: Are antibiotics the link?
Patients often request and use antibiotics thinking they have no long-term effects of the medications. But work on the human ...
What is the worldwide cost of depression?
Depression is a major human blight. Globally, it is responsible for more ‘years lost’ to disability than any other condition ...
Despite life saving benefits, many doctors reluctant to recommend genetic testing
Many American doctors may not support genetic testing in patients without a major family history of certain illnesses, suggests a ...
Evolution explains infanticide among mammals
In the early 1970s, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, then a graduate student at Harvard, traveled to India to study Hanuman langurs, ...
Neuroscience research has long way to go
The human brain contains roughly 86 billion neurons and trillions, perhaps hundreds of trillions, of intricate interconnections among those neurons ...
Humans struggle to identify odors despite acute sense of smell
In most mammals, olfaction is dominant. Smell uses a large portion of their brains, and aroma receptors are encoded by ...
Rat study sheds light on question of human ‘free will’
New research on the neural basis of ‘spontaneous’ actions in rats could shed light on the philosophical mystery that is ...
What gave rise to tool use among primates?
Primates use all kinds of tools in the wild to acquire food resources. For example, chimpanzees use stones to crack ...
Profile of a personal genetics company: PHENOMBio
Interest in personal genomics sites that provide insight into the link between your genes and disease proclivities is booming. But ...
Gene variant may be linked to better memory, protection against Alzheimer’s
People with a newly identified genetic variant perform better on certain types of memory tests, a discovery that may point ...
Yellow fever mosquitoes’ genes pick up human odor
The yellow fever mosquito sustains its taste for human blood thanks to a genetic tweak that makes it more sensitive ...
Creativity more imitation than innovation
In today’s world, inventors are our heroes and our saviours – the geniuses who keep the world economy surging forward, ...
Are breast cancer screenings always beneficial?
Breast screening in the UK is at the centre of renewed controversy after an influential group of British MPs called ...
