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.
Scientist find living genetic relatives of ancient iceman
No next-of-kin was around to claim the frozen 5,300-year-old body of Ötzi the Iceman when it was found in the ...
Gene variant predicts how helpful you are, researcher suggests
People's willingness to help others may be influenced by a gene that affects their level of social anxiety, according to ...
DNA testing on your smartphone just a download away
Genetic sequencing is no longer for the uber-wealthy and uber-patient: If a decade ago it cost $3 billion and took ...
Some people are genetically predisposed to spot danger
A new study from the University of British Columbia has found more than half of people are genetically predisposed to ...
Scientific first: 46-million-year-old mosquito, filled with blood
No real life scientist has ever even found a fossilized mosquito bloated with blood. In fact, the odds of that ...
MicroRNAs may fight the spread of cancer
Researchers at Princeton University have found that microRNAs — small bits of genetic material capable of repressing the expression of ...
How climate change is causing species to evolve
Researchers in the new field of "landscape genetics" find that global warming is causing effects that spur species to evolve ...
Crowdfunding appeal for longevity research
Give me a quick overview of your experiment? What is going to happen with this mouse? Daniel Wuttke: We have ...
Letting go of your own “leftover” IVF embryos
In a few days a big part of our lives will be no more. For the past six years our ...
Sequencing genomes of entire microcosmic ecosystems
Viruses are the most abundant entities on the planet—and among the most mysterious. Mya Breitbart, a microbial ecologist at the ...
Creationists pit genetics and evolution against one another
Evolution and genetics are "two very closely interwoven disciplines," as the Genetics Society of America observes, so it is difficult ...
Do your genes influence who you love?
Imagine a dating site where, in addition to a completed survey, you have to submit a genetic profile. This could ...
Engineered mice show jet lag could become a thing of the past
Scientists have discovered a genetic mechanism that regulates the effects of jet lag. While a cure for the disorder is ...
Genetics offers key inisghts to how to educate children
Education in England is no better than mediocre, and billions of pounds have been wasted on pointless university courses and ...
DNA study shows herbal products not always what they appear to be
DNA barcoding revealed that sixty percent of herbal products tested contained DNA from plant species not included on the label ...
Genetic links between athletics and ‘race’
Wilson Kipsang of Kenya ran the marathon in 2:03:23. He is the fastest marathoner in the history of mankind. In ...
Testicular cancer may be the price paid for sun protection
A genetic variant that increases the risk of testicular cancer may be favored by evolution because it helps protect those ...
Stomach cells naturally revert to stem cells
New research has shown that the stomach naturally produces more stem cells than previously realized, likely for repair of injuries ...
Surrogate births growing in popularity
Becca and Steve Goering and Virginia Fetzer are expecting. Fetzer, a Mundelein mother of two, expects to give birth to ...
Nabbing suspects with DNA
When Oscar Thwala was sentenced to life imprisonment 10 years ago on three counts of rape, two counts of kidnapping, ...
Using the Human Genome Project as a model for scientific success
Obama should take a lesson from the Human Genome Project if he wants his ambitious brain-mapping project to succeed ...
Why good girls like bad guys—Does evolution explain?
In different cultures around the world, women are drawn to bad boys. The phenomenon is so common, in fact, that ...
DNA can challenge religious doctrines
Advancements in medical genetics challenge the long-standing relationship between science and religion. Both genetics and religion can affect notions of ...
Genes predispose some people to focus on the negative
A new study by a University of British Columbia researcher finds that some people are genetically predisposed to see the ...
Fighting Viruses with RNAi
Plants, fungi, and invertebrates use RNA interference (RNAi) to fend off invading viruses. Mammals, on the other hand, are known ...
Misunderstandings retard growth of personal genomics
Genome sequencing has improved over the years. But misunderstandings about the accuracy and value of the tests abound ...
Ancient DNA unravels Europe’s genetic diversity
Ancient DNA recovered from a time series of skeletons in Germany spanning 4,000 years of prehistory has been used to ...
