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.
The value of running genetic analysis on breastmilk
The following is an edited excerpt. The composition of breast milk varies from mother to mother, and genetic factors may affect the ...
The fight against genome parasites
The following is an edited excerpt. In the gonads of animals, genome parasites, such as transposons, pose a serious threat ...
New method of mass-producing high-quality DNA molecules
The following is an edited excerpt. Researchers at Karolinska Institute in Sweden and Harvard University announced the development of a ...
Edinburgh scientists make stem cell breakthrough
The following is an excerpt. Scientists in Edinburgh have taken a vital step forward in understanding how cells can be ...
Jewish identity and IVF
The following is an excerpt. Since the 1990s, the consensus among Jewish authorities has been that the bearing mother, not ...
Black women more prone to breast cancer gene
The following is an excerpt. A new study shows that about 20 percent of black women with breast cancer carry ...
Muscle disease gene identified in fish
The following is an excerpt. If you prod a zebrafish embryo, it will normally twitch its tail and try to ...
Clinical geneticists oppose some direct-to-consumer genetic testing
A majority of European clinical geneticists oppose direct-to-consumer genetic tests for serious or untreatable health issues ...
Oswald T Avery: unsung hero of genetic science
The following is an excerpt. Seventy years ago, at about midnight on 26 May 1943, a slight, balding man in ...
Gene therapy helps muscular dystrophy patients breathe easier
The following is an excerpt. Children with a rare form of muscular dystrophy called Pompe disease often spend their days ...
Studying the human genome, ten and counting
The following is an editorial summary. In this interview, Eric D. Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, ...
Cacao genome sequenced
The following is an excerpt. The genome of the most commonly cultivated cacao plant in the world is now sequenced ...
The epigenetics of monogomy in prarie voles
The following is an edited excerpt. The mechanism behind prairie voles’ lifelong social monogamy is partly epigenetic, according to a ...
The threat of genome theft
The following is an excerpt. Most of us occasionally worry that some online mishap, like a misreading of Facebook’s latest ...
The complexity of cancer genetics
To develop cancer-specific drugs, we need to distinguish cancer cells from healthy cells -- but it’s not so easy ...
Why do identical twins end up having such different lives?
The following is an editorial summary. How can identical twins--individuals who have the same genes and who grew up in ...
Mending bones with magnetic stem cells
The following is an excerpt. Scientists have developed an injectable gel containing stem cells that could be used to repair ...
Drug-resistant avian flu strains emerge
The following is an edited excerpt. The H7N9 strain of bird flu circulating in China appears to have easily developed ...
Will Supreme Court decide companies can own human genes?
The following is an edited excerpt. The question before the U.S. Supreme Court is whether Myriad Genetics, a Utah-based biotech ...
Giant genome study finds tiny links between genetics and schooling
The following is an excerpt. Everyone wants an easy answer to the big questions about genetics—is there a gay gene? ...
Centenarian genetics: The search for longevity-enhancing biotech
People who live past age 100 develop diseases at much later ages than the rest of us. Scientists are working ...
Anti-malaria vaccine developed in Japan
The following is an edited excerpt. A team of Japanese researchers say they have developed a vaccine that cuts the ...
Angelina Jolie inadvertently highlights key question of gene patents
The following is an excerpt. Angelina Jolie's recent double mastectomy was obviously a very radical decision. It is unusual for ...
Synthetic blood trial liscenced in Scotland
The following is an excerpt. Researchers based at the Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine (SCRM) in Edinburgh hope to use ...
Discovery of liquid mammoth blood fuels cloning hopes
A remarkably intact 10,000-year-old female mammoth buried in Siberian ice raises hopes of cloning the extinct beast ...
Fetal programming: Mom’s weight changes baby’s genes
The following is an excerpt. Of the many powers mothers wield, few are more extraordinary than the power to nudge ...
Genetic tests: Should doctors tell all?
The following is an edited excerpt. In March, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) released a report ...
