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.
CDC Report: Genomics ready to help prevent disease
[B]oth zip and genetic codes are important for our health. Genetic factors are known to play a role in nine ...
Friends have (slightly) similar genomes
A study from a controversial pair of US researchers claims that we are more genetically similar to our friends than ...
Are ‘gene drives’ scary or promising?
Perhaps you've followed that teeny tiny controversy around genetically modified foods, the “GMO” debate. Or you watched the fierce back-and-forth over whether ...
NASA says it will find extraterrestrial life soon: Will it be DNA-based?
NASA says it's closer than ever to finding extraterrestrial life, but if and when scientists find life outside of Earth, ...
One family, one kid with a one-of-a-kind disease
The couple had their first child, a son, on December 9, 2007, not long after Matt completed his Ph.D. in ...
Indonesian state won’t release GE mosquitos to fight disease
The Malacca government does not intend to release “genetically modified organism” (GMO) mosquitoes to control Aedes although the state recorded ...
Measuring change in adult brains
Popular neuroscience books have made much in recent years of the possibility that the adult brain is capable of restoring ...
Genetic testing of ‘Sasquatch samples’ just animal fur
Legends of mysterious part-human creatures have circulated for centuries, and those stories persist today in cultures around the world, from ...
Could we end malaria with GE mosquitoes?
The ability to edit genomes may offer us the ability to build and release mosquitos resistant to malaria, ending the ...
Video: Consciousness has an on-off switch?
While trying to treat a woman's epilepsy, doctors at George Washington University may have inadvertently found brain structures that house ...
Gene therapy could replace pacemakers, at least temporarily
Gene therapy could soon join the electronic pacemaker as a treatment for a weak heart. By inserting a specific gene ...
Free-floating RNA and sperm might be pathway for epigenetics
Scientists find that sperm can potentially carry RNA from the body's cells to offspring. Is this finally evidence of a ...
Doctors seek genetics underlying spinal pain after injury
Pain researchers at the University of Adelaide have launched a new study to investigate the underlying reasons why some sufferers ...
Could bariatric surgery change metabolic gene expression?
Every week, about 20 people visit the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania to be evaluated for weight-loss surgery ...
Why is the myth we only use 10 percent of our brain so hard to bust?
By now, perhaps you’ve seen the trailer for the new sci-fi thriller Lucy. It starts with a flurry of stylized ...
Tennesse law criminalizing drug use in pregnancy doesn’t consider risk and genetics
Given the link between alcohol consumption during pregnancy and birth defects, should expectant mothers who drink be arrested for assault? ...
World Cup player gets stem cell therapy despite lack of evidence it works
Argentinian midfielder Angel Di Maria's hamstring injury prevented him from playing in the World Cup final against Germany on Sunday, ...
Obesity epidemic can’t all be blamed on genes
We have been subjected to years of obesity-related headlines, and the news almost always seems to be discouraging. Obesity has ...
Practice does not make perfect: Expertise requires Innate talent
Scientists have long argued over the relative contributions of practice and native talent to the development of elite performance. This ...
Human blood types remain a mystery despite a hundred years of study
In 1900 the Austrian physician Karl Landsteiner first discovered blood types, winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for ...
Duke stem cell trial for autism dangerously speculative?
Can stem cells be used to treat autism? At this point the jury remains out on that question, but a ...
Placenta, controlled by baby’s genes, is bellwhether for fetal and maternal health
Minutes after a baby girl was born on a recent morning at UCSF Medical Center here, her placenta — a ...
Epigenetic damage affects humans too says Washington State biologist
Michael Skinner, a professor of biology at Washington State University, ignited a firestorm of debate in 2005 when he and ...
Canada seeks to keep genetic data private from health insurers
Canada has no legislation barring insurers from requesting genetic testing information when customers apply for policies. The government is urging ...
Friends share genetic similarities
This brings a whole new meaning to the phrase, "You've got a friend in me." A new study published Monday ...
‘Synthetic biology’ is difficult to define, even for experts
He was looking quite lost. An eminent scientist and UN delegate was stumbling over the meaning of a term that ...
Fertility clinics adopting high-tech strategies to pick best embryo for implantation
Annika Levitt initially resisted the fertility clinic’s suggestion that only one embryo — rather than the usual two or more ...
