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.
Energy centers of immune cells decreased in children with autism
Children with autism experience deficits in a type of immune cell that protects the body from infection. Called granulocytes, the ...
Dad’s faulty genes and mom’s silent ones responsible in Prader-Willi Syndrome
Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have reported a major breakthrough in understanding the molecular basis for Prader-Willi syndrome ...
To Mom: Thanks for the genes
Mother’s Day is a day of appreciation, of gratitude, and of guilt. Guilt for all the things I put my ...
One man’s junk: What non-coding DNA really means
Genomes are like books of life. But until recently, their covers were locked. Finally we can now open the books ...
Stem cell trial for stroke shows potential for lasting benefits
People who received the world's first stem cell treatment for strokes have shown measurable reductions in disability and handicap a ...
FDA ethically off base in opposition to direct-to-consumer genetic testing
Bioethicist argues that regulating direct-to-consumer genetic testing violates personal autonomy and protects against nothing ...
Scientists add new letters to genetic alphabet: What does it mean?
A 15-year effort has yielded a bacterium that can use two 'alien' base pairs in its genetic code, expanding the ...
Matching cancer genes and immune cells key to unlocking immune system’s treatment power
In a strategy that combines two of the hottest ideas in cancer research, scientists at the National Institutes of Health ...
Genetic analysis of polar bears adds species to list of those younger than we thought
Polar bears diverged from brown bears surprisingly recently — within the past 500,000 years, researchers report today in Cell1. Previous ...
Estimates that 10% of fathers are duped about paternity is wrong; Probably more like 1 to 3%
As I have stated before one of the strangest things to me is the ‘urban myth’ among many biologists that ...
On penises and vaginas: Why maleness always wins the headlines
Biology's sexism isn't overt, but researchers and media can't help but propagate the war of the sexes and the importance ...
Culture wars threaten synthetic biology’s future: Debate on open source versus closed door
Synbio will soon be weathering legal and ethical challenges as its advances enter people's everyday lives. In order to mature, ...
Artist brings our paleolithic ancestors to life
A smiling 3.2-million-year-old face greets visitors to the anthropology hall of the National Museum of Anthropology and History in Mexico ...
Mom’s genes and environment affect gender of kids
Families are especially complex: Cause and effect are hard to disentangle in the bubbling cauldron that is a household. There ...
Antibiotic resistance now major threat to public health
The Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico is a network of chambers stretching 1,600 feet underground. The bacteria that grow on ...
New Tyrannosaurus was smaller, more graceful cousin of T.Rex
We have found a lost cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex, and it was a far more graceful creature than its more ...
DNA alphabet expanded, opens up new possibilities for synthetic drugs
Way back in Biology 101, we learned that DNA is encoded through the nucleotide pairings of adenine to thymine and ...
Further evidence stem cells injected into heart don’t grow new cardiac muscle
C-kit cells, which are found in the heart and supposedly act as cardiac stem cells, are the basis of a ...
DNA-destorying spray marketed, will criminals purchase?
Everywhere you go you run the risk of leaving traces of your DNA behind – from fingerprints, to skin, hair ...
Genes guide brain’s response to stress
It is probably cliché at this point to mention that the world seems to be getting crazier/faster/more stressful. Stress can ...
Atomic mechanism for how DNA-protective telomerase is made may be target for aging therapies
Researchers have taken an atomic level look at the enzyme telomerase - and what they have found may unlock the ...
Are modern Jews descendants of converts from the extinct kingdom of Khazaria or ancient Israel?
Some studies have suggested that most Jews do not trace their ancestry to ancient Israel but are converts--descendants of the ...
Environment, genes equally at play in autism
Environmental factors are more important than previously thought in leading to autism, as big a factor as genes, according to ...
Genetic and maternal factors play larger role in neonatal brain injuries, long blamed on lack of oxygen during birth
It was long assumed that brain injuries in newborns resulted from insufficient oxygen during labor or delivery. Distressed parents often ...
Antibiotic resistance biggest issue in developing world because of lack of regulation
By most standards, the increasing availability of life-saving antibiotics in the developing world is a good thing. But, around the ...
Genetic sequencing offers promise of individualized medicine, but at what cost?
Whole genome sequencing has officially entered the medical mainstream and kicked off an era of truly personalized medicine. California-based Illumina ...
Nicholas Wade on race: Genes and evolution trump culture in shaping human differences
No subject is more taboo than race. New York Times science writer Nicholas Wade takes on the nature-nurture debate in ...
