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.
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? ...
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 ...
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 ...
Genes and learning: Will early reading really make a difference?
New guidelines from pediatrics organization advise parents to begin reading to children just after birth. But evidence is inconclusive that ...
‘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 ...
Alzheimer’s proteins in eyes may be key to early detection
Efforts to detect Alzheimer's disease earlier and more cheaply are focusing on signs of the ailment in the eye and ...
Rules against patenting genes that occur in nature has bio-tech balking
Guidelines that forbid patents on a wide array of natural products, phenomena and principles have many in the biotechnology and ...
State holds children’s DNA via newborn screening cards without permission
As word of an Eyewitness News investigation spreads through Holliday Park, parents admit they are surprised. "You're kidding, right? I ...
Synthetic biologist wants to elegantly engineer genomes
Synthetic biologist Hamilton Smith wants to find the smallest genome that will keep a bacterium alive – and tidy up ...
Mom’s pregnancy diet affects her children and grandchildren
What mom eats during pregnancy dramatically influences not only the health of her kids but future generations as well. That’s ...
Brain recording lets scientists watch treatments in action, but could harm memory
The man in the hospital bed was playing video games on a laptop, absorbed and relaxed despite the bustle of ...
Missisippi baby with HIV cured by early therapy, now positive for virus’ DNA again
Two months shy of her fourth birthday, paediatricians gave the ‘Mississippi baby’ bad news: her HIV infection, seemingly vanquished by ...
Individual’s genetic info unique in another way: The shape of RNAs
The information contained within a messenger RNA (mRNA) transcript goes beyond the protein recipe embedded in its sequence. mRNAs consist ...
In the future, brain implants will cure paralysis and disease
nside the biomedical electronics lab at GE Global Research in Niskayuna, New York, Jeff Ashe, a principal engineer, holds up ...
Estimates of number of human genes dips below 20,000
An analysis of proteomic data from seven studies suggests the human genome contains fewer than 20,000 protein-coding genes, 1,700 fewer ...
False positives and false promises for Alzheimer’s disease
A recent study claims to predict Alzheimer's disease with just a blood test. But analysis of the reported statistics show ...
Video: San Fran startup Cambrian Genomics set to edit your embryo’s DNA
San Francisco startup Cambrian Genomics is making lots and lots of synthetic DNA, some of which they hope to sell ...
Redheads not on verge of extinction
Redheads, rest easy: your chances of climate change-induced extinction are identical to those of people with less exhilarating hair colour ...
Fish with a placenta? How did evolution come up with that?
With their impressive fins and stunning colours, the poeciliids—a group of small fish that includes guppies, mollies and swordtails—are understandably ...
C-sections cause epigenetic changes in gene regions regulating babies’ immune systems
Babies coming into the world by cesarean section experience epigenetic changes, a study has found. So far there has not ...
