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.
Scientist delaying own treatment to advance breast cancer research
Mother, grandmother, and biomedical scientist Kimberly Koss of Ohio is battling a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer, called ...
Japanese scientist who oversaw retracted stem cell paper found dead in laboratory
On July 2, a taciturn but brilliant Japanese stem-cell scientist named Yoshiki Sasai wrote a plaintive letter in which he expressed profound remorse ...
Canadian scientists develop new, quicker technique for genomic analysis
Scientists from McGill University and the Génome Québec Innovation Centre say they have achieved a technical advance that could result in speedier ...
What is a ‘species,’ exactly?
Most people do not get to use the tree-climbing skills they perfected as children once they’re adults. But for Jochen Wolf, ...
Butterflies evolve at amazingly fast rate to adapt to environment
A team of researchers who bred a species of brown African butterfly in the lab were shocked to discover that ...
Epigenetics may explain Neanderthals’ extinction
Late last year, scientists unveiled the complete genome of a female Neanderthal whose 130,000-year-old toe bone had been found in a cave in Siberia ...
Minnesota statute permits long-term storage of babies’ genetic information
Minnesota's newborn screening program is again storing newborn screening data indefinitely. A law passed during the legislative session removes a ...
‘Hobbits’ just fantasy: skeleton was human with Down syndrome, not new species
Skeletal remains found in 2004 in a cave on the island of Flores in Indonesia were not proof of a ...
Birds come from ‘fastest-evolving’ dinosaurs
If almost all dinosaurs had feathers, as recent studies have indicated, what determined which ones would evolve into birds? According to new ...
Efforts to cure rare genetic diseases target people who conquered them
Biologist Stephen Friend is president and co-founder of the nonprofit research organization Sage Bionetworks in Seattle, and co-director of the ...
Five new genetic markers for pancreatic cancer identified
After comparing the DNA of thousands of people with and without the disease, a new study has identified five genetic ...
10,000 hours of practice leads to mastery? That’s not what our genes say.
Talent, as encoded in our genes, may mean more than practice when it comes to mastery. Identical twins who practiced ...
What the F@$! is Synthetic Biology?
Synthetic biology is often portrayed as the Next New Thing, a development that will revolutionize the way we think of ...
UK genetics research making strides in cancer and rare disease treatment
Prime Minister David Cameron has said it "will see the UK lead the world in genetic research within years." The ...
Some kids un-develop autism. Could their genes be responsible?
Scientists are focusing attention on a group of autistic children who improve so much they essentially outgrow the diagnosis. Although ...
Gene responsible for echolocation identified in dolphins and bats
Echolocation is used by both bats and dolphins, allowing them to navigate the world with the use of sound. Now, ...
Genome sequencing on way to clinical use in treating cancer
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) not only continues to make steady advances in the molecular diagnosis of cancers, it also seems to fit ...
Turing description of interacting molecules explains how fingers and toes form
Your arms and toes began as tiny buds that sprouted from your sides when you were just a four-week-old embryo ...
Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, alcoholism may have common genetic link
A rare gene variant discovered by UCL scientists is associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and ...
Lower testosterone correlates with evolution of early human culture
Modern humans appear in the fossil record about 200,000 years ago, but it was only about 50,000 years ago that ...
Harmful GMO insulin meme illustrates how ‘deadly’ anti-GMO movement can be
What happens when a tabloid-respect-for-the-truth meets a life-saving breakthrough in medical technology? You’d get something like this: Chances are you ...
When individual has multiple genomes, genetic tests get complicated
When Meriel M. McEntagart, a geneticist at St. George’s University of London, met the family in May 2012, she suspected ...
FDA to regulate genetic diagnostic tests, will affect cancer testing
The Food and Drug Administration unveiled plans to regulate thousands of diagnostic tests, including many coming from the exploding field ...
Stem cell research sheds light on weakening of aging immune system
There's a good reason people over 60 are not donor candidates for bone marrow transplantation. The immune system ages and ...
Addressing ethical questions in pregnancy, genetic disease and baby traits
When Kira Walker was born, on June 13, 2013, her parents and doctors knew she might have health issues. Her ...
Reproducing evolutionary changes with teeth
To study evolutionary morphings, scientists often look at teeth, which are well preserved and thus well represented in the fossil ...
How DNA withstands UV radiation
In the same week that the U.S. surgeon general issued a 101-page report about the dangers of skin cancer, researchers ...
