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.
Faulty genes that cause heart disease focus of personalized medicine
Heart disease follows cancer as genetic screening advances identify targets and treatments on an individual basis ...
Next-Generation Sequencing opening doors in diagnosing perplexing disorders
A new diagnostic test using "Next-Generation Sequencing" has made headlines for saving the lives of two young people suffering from ...
Genetically modified bacteria converts plant matter into fuel
Scientists have genetically engineered microbes to successfully convert biomass into fuel directly, in a first step towards industrial production. A ...
Genetic mismatch implies STAP stem cells do not exist
Genetic tests have put another nail in the coffin of the once-promising STAP (stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency) stem cell technique, ...
Criminalizing high-risk pregnancy? Law makes having a disease and baby simultaneously a crime
Tennessee will now prosecute pregnant women who use drugs, despite overwhelming evidence that addiction is a disease much like diabetes ...
Artist uses van Gogh’s relative’s genetic material to create replica of famous ear
A German museum has put on display a copy of Vincent van Gogh's ear that was grown using genetic material ...
Laser treatments trigger dental stem cells to regrow teeth
With a simple, low-power laser, Harvard University scientists have triggered naturally occurring dental stem cells to regrow teeth in rats ...
As antibiotic resistance grows, scientists look again to viruses to help fight bacterial infections
For decades, patients behind the Iron Curtain were denied access to some of the best antibiotics developed in the West ...
Genetic search engine will streamline research by linking disease genes to evolutionary partners
Our bodies are as vast as oceans and space, composed of a dizzying number of different types of cells. Exploration ...
Putting the ‘sex’ in sex chromosomes overshadows their holisitic importance
Sarah Richardson is a historian and philosopher of science who focuses on the intersections between race and sex and the ...
Products made by synthetic organisms enter comsumer households
Consumer products containing ingredients made using an advanced form of engineering known as synthetic biology are beginning to show up ...
Some worms’ genes shorten lifespans depending on diet
Evidence that diet can profoundly affect aging is beginning to emerge, sometimes through targeted studies and other times by accident ...
Environmental exposures cause aging. We should know more about them.
Why do our bodies age at different rates? Why can some people run marathons at the age of 70, while ...
UK panel supports first genetically modified human embryos
A British expert scientific panel gave its backing on Tuesday to potential new 3-way fertility treatments that would for the ...
Japanese gaming company to begin personal genomics testing
Japan’s DeNA built its empire from games for feature phones and desktop PCs, but its legacy in leisure isn’t stopping ...
George Church, founder of ‘Facebook of DNA,’ says genetics can solve many world problems
In the future, George Church believes, almost everything will be better because of genetics. If you have a medical problem, ...
Have a taste for liver? Food preferences might be hard wired
Geneticists have found 17 new genes that help determine what foods people enjoy most. But these genes aren't related to ...
Lab-grown blood not ready for primetime just yet
The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service wants to revolutionize our blood supply using lab-grown red blood cells from adult stem ...
Breast cancer gene also raises risk of lung cancer in smokers
After comparing the DNA of 11,348 Europeans with lung cancer and 15,861 cancer-free patients, researchers found a particularly strong contention ...
Mosquito-borne dengue fever threatens Brazil World Cup but GM solution blocked by biotech fears
Construction woes aside, visitors to the World Cup in Brazil face a serious threat of mosquito-borned dengue fever. Over 2.5 ...
Anne Glover, Europe’s chief science adviser faces anti-GMO, anti-tech politics
The European Commission's chief science adviser said publicly that politics impedes her ability to give unbiased advice to European policy ...
Drugs that block genetic breaks on immune system lengthen cancer survival
Drugs that unleash the body’s immune system to combat tumors could allow patients with advanced melanoma to live far longer ...
X-linked gene controls two common male reproductive birth defects
Baylor College of Medicine scientists defined a previously unrecognized genetic cause for two types of birth defects found in newborn ...
Blondness carried in a single allele that enhances known hair color genes
Some Europeans have enhancers that make them blond. In this case, the enhancer isn’t a hair dye, but a genetic ...
Bruce Ames, identifier of mutation causing chemicals, lists his greatest discoveries
In an otherwise ordinary day in 1964, Bruce Ames picked up a box of potato chips and read the list ...
Rhode Island bill allows DNA collection from any arrestee
A bill before the Rhode Island General Assembly would give law enforcement sweeping new powers to collect DNA from people ...
Justice requires that forensic sciences be standardized to protect the innocent
Santae Tribble is one of more than 350 people who have been exonerated by DNA testing after going to prison ...
