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.
Scientists discover epigenetic mechanism linked to obesity-related disease
In one of the largest epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) to date, published in The Lancet, scientists have identified a new ...
Bionic plants developed at MIT focus on the “tech” half of biotech
Researchers at MIT have enhanced plants' abilities using nanomaterials, specifically carbon nanotubes. The cyborg plants can perform supercharged photosynthesis or ...
3-Parent IVF stirs up all the old “designer baby” panic
Why is deciding abort a baby a legitimate ethical choice but choosing to have a boy is not? Some groups ...
Faults in stem cell acid bath study
A study billed as a breakthrough in stem cell research contained a spliced image, material recycled from the lead author’s ...
Play for the cure: Genes in Space
A mobile game developed in Dundee could have “a massive impact” in the battle against cancer. The smartphone game, Play ...
Minnesota newborn-screening bill would end genetic privacy
In a recent commentary, five hospital executives tried to frighten Minnesotans into thinking that if a proposed bill isn’t passed ...
De-extinction scientist, Bryan Clark, dies at 81
An award-winning city professor who studied evolution and dreamed of one day resurrecting extinct species has died aged 81. Professor ...
Scientists to clone 43k year-old woolly mammoth
An international team of researchers in Yakutsk, Russia are currently examining a remarkable specimen — a 43,000 year-old woolly mammoth ...
Does success come from your parents? New book supports genetic determinism
A new book supports the idea that socio-economic success is mostly a result of genetics. The idea that humans behavior ...
Drug-delivery DNA cages
Move over, nanotechnologists, and make room for the biggest of the small. Scientists at the Harvard’s Wyss Institute have built ...
Analysis of abandoned Detroit rape kits IDs serial rapists
About 100 “serial rapists” have been identified since Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Kym Worthy began pushing state officials to begin ...
Utah law to collect DNA from accused felons
In addition to taking a mugshot and a fingerprint, police may be collecting DNA samples from those accused of a ...
Genetic languages to guide the design of synthetic biological systems
Researchers at Virginia Tech and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have used a computer-aided design tool to create genetic languages ...
Angelina turns to another preventative surgery, based on BRCA1 mutation
Angelina Jolie's mutation-inspired preventative double mastectomy raised public awareness of the risks associated with BRCA1 mutations. Now, she's looking at ...
The selfish gene debate: The power of stories in science and society
Science writer David Dobbs wrote an article late last year calling for a new narrative to help us understand evolution ...
Children to order: Ethics of “designer babies”
Creating designer babies who are free from disease and super athletic or smart may finally be around the corner. But ...
FDA wins high-profile support over 23andMe dust up
When the Food & Drug Administration last November ordered the Mountain View, Calif.-based firm 23andMe to stop marketing its health-related ...
What de-extinction can’t bring back
There are a lots of potential problems with de-extinction, starting with the fact that, in any rigorous way, it’s probably ...
Algae suicide helps its relative and harms its rivals
You might say the benefit of staying alive is an actual no-brainer: even brainless lifeforms do their best not to ...
First test to predict Alzheimer’s years in advance
The world's first blood test to predict Alzheimer's disease before symptoms occur has been developed. The test identifies 10 chemicals ...
Chemotherapy induces long-lasting epigenetic changes in blood cells
Many breast cancer survivors experience fatigue and other debilitating symptoms that persist months to years after their course of treatment ...
How does whole genome sequencing really stack up?
These days, it’s faster and cheaper than ever to decipher a person’s entire DNA. But a small study suggests that ...
Modern patients question and go over the heads of their doctors
Last week I was in California for the Future of Genomic Medicine conference, and I heard a presentation by “the ...
DNA and the masses: Genetics as identity
You can have your DNA sequenced faster, easier and more completely than ever before. ln light of these advances, it's ...
‘Fat gene’ stands falsely accused, offers lesson in gene-gene interactions
For much of the last decade, a gene called FTO has been touted as a 'fat gene'. Now it seems ...
EteRNA: a game to design RNA shapes
By playing EteRNA, citizen scientists participate in creating the first large-scale library of synthetic RNA designs. EteRNA Challenge Puzzles ask ...
Whole genome sequencing not ready for prime time
Once prohibitively expensive and laborious, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) is now edging its way into the clinic. The cost of the ...
