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.
Still chasing ghosts: A new genetic methodology will not find the “missing heritability”
One of the hopes and promises of the Human Genome Sequencing Project was that it would revolutionize the understanding, diagnosis, ...
Angelina effect having huge impact on South Australian women: Breast cancer genetic testing referrals triple
The number of South Australian women being referred by their GPs for breast cancer genetic testing has tripled after Angelina ...
James Watson’s genetic prescription: Have kids early
In his latest, potentially controversial, statement, James Watson urges parents to have kids early and chastises older parents ...
Genetic matchmaking? Not all that far fetched
What if finding “The One” meant finding the person whose genome is most compatible with your own? That’s the question raised ...
Gene therapy study produces promising results for hemophilia B patients
A fraction of patients with a common form of the bleeding disorder hemophilia develop anallergic reaction to the blood-clotting treatment they need to ...
Bacteria with spider genes spin out silk
In addition to snaring dinner and protecting spider babies, spider silk makes a pretty good shield for bioreactive enzymes. Even ...
Genes could dictate jail time
A criminal's genetic make-up could in the future determine how long they are sentenced to spend in jail and affect ...
DNA-grabbing bacteria hint at early phase of evolution
Parts of us may never die – not quite, anyway. Lab tests involving microbes and a mammoth bone have shown ...
Now is the time to stop three-parent IVF
The UK rubber stamp Embryo Authority has approved the manufacture of three-parent human embryos. The process is done by removing ...
Genes that won the fame game
Fame is something that sticks to someone or something, a quality earned or gained for no reason at all. It ...
Stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s proves save in primates
In a step that brings stem cells closer to the clinic, researchers in Japan have found that transplanting reprogrammed stem ...
New patterns recognized in genetic profiles of 12 cancers
Researchers are trying to catalog the DNA and molecular characteristic of thousands of tumors, to seek out similarities and one ...
Gene tweaking for conservation
Researchers predict that 15-40% of animal species will be extinct by 2050, due to climate change and human activities. We ...
Genetic test could spare thousands from chemotherapy
Doctors could use the test to determine whether or not a patient's cancer is likely to spread to other parts ...
Egg-freezing goes mainstream with better technology
The debate over egg-freezing is heating up as more and more young, healthy women are looking at options that postpone ...
Genetic makeup and diet affect the intestinal microbiome
A recent study shows how genetic makeup and diet can interact with the Microbiome to impact certain health issues. Mayo Clinic ...
Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome: a deadly virus drizzle
Researchers study the genetics of an emerging respiratory virus to see if has the potential to become a widespread scourge ...
DNA testing could prove valuable tool for identifying viral infections, including MERS
New research shows that genetic testing can be used for quick and highly accurate results in testing for viral infections, ...
Innovations in neuroscience trigger shifting views in the treatment of mental illness
Innovations in neuroscience are changing the way scientists see the brain, which could lead to more effective treatment of mental ...
Foot cream kills HIV by tricking cells into suicide
A common drug that dermatologists turn to treat nail fungus appears to come with a not-so-tiny side effect: eradicating HIV. In ...
X-shape not true picture of chromosome structure, new imaging technique reveals
Scientists at the BBSRC-funded Babraham Institute, working with the University of Cambridge and the Weizmann Institute, have produced beautiful 3D ...
Pairing news and education: ‘Where Do Your Genes Come From?’ and ‘DNA Double Take’
A common student misconception about science is that it’s a bunch of facts and equations to be memorized and regurgitated ...
The Compatability Gene: A mixing and matching game of life and death
Dan Davis's The Compatibility Gene tells the story of the discovery of a central component of the immune system, one that ...
The reason some people get cold sores may be genetic
Medical researchers are closer to understanding why some people are more prone to cold sores than others. Although between 80 ...
A dispatch from the genetic frontier
I never thought I had all that much in common with the glamorous film star Angelina Jolie – until May of this ...
Audubon’s warblers may have borrowed DNA from fellow bird species
While most birds either migrate or remain resident in one region, the Audubon’s warbler, with habitat ranging from the Pacific ...
Disease-specific human embryonic stem cell lines placed on NIH Stem Cell Registry
Scientists from King's College London have announced that 16 human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines have been approved by the ...
