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.
Genetic mutation may have allowed early humans to migrate throughout Africa
A genetic mutation that occurred thousands of years ago might be the answer to how early humans were able to ...
Researchers engineer novel DNA barcode
Much like the checkout clerk uses a machine that scans the barcodes on packages to identify what customers bought at ...
Federal court ponders legality of police DNA collection
Federal appeals court judges aimed tough questions Wednesday at a state lawyer defending California's voter-approved requirement that police take DNA ...
How do cats earn their stripes? It’s all in the DNA
A newly-discovered animal gene may explain how the common housecat comes to have a blotchy or stripey tabby fur pattern ...
Marijuana based drug may “turn off” gene that causes breast cancer
The "medical" bit of medical marijuana may be legitimate after all: Turns out a component of cannabis fights cancer, according ...
How do organisms evolve?
A team of researchers at Michigan State University has documented the step-by-step process in which organisms evolve new functions. The ...
Scientists create map of human brain
A comprehensive atlas of the adult human brain that reveals the activity of genes across the entire organ has been ...
In breakthrough, geneticists find 4 distinct types of cancer leading to new treatments
In findings that are fundamentally reshaping the scientific understanding of breast cancer, researchers have identified four genetically distinct types of ...
Scientists use genetics, climate reconstructions to track global spread of modern humans out of Africa
Research indicates the out-of-Africa spread of humans was dictated by the appearance of favourable climatic windows. By integrating genetics with ...
First human whole-brain genetic map created
A team at the Allen Institute for Brain Science has created the first human brain-wide map of gene expression data ...
Diseases of aging map to a few ‘hotspots’ on the human genome
Researchers have long known that individual diseases are associated with genes in specific locations of the genome. Genetics researchers at ...
Genomic studies find all humans did not originate in East Africa
The largest study of genetic variance across present-day populations in southern Africa suggests that there is no single place in ...
Prenatal genome sequencing expected to pose challenges to doctors
Geneticists soon will be able to identify an unborn child’s risk of developing chronic diseases later in life and possibly ...
What does the $1000 genome mean for you?
The cost of genome sequencing is starting to sink into the affordable range. Should you save up and get one? ...
Using race in medicine
Racial categories are currently ubiquitous in medicine and medical research. How are these categories determined? Is there uniformity from one ...
Scientists use genetics, climate reconstructions to track global spread of modern humans out of Africa
Research indicates the out-of-Africa spread of humans was dictated by the appearance of favourable climatic windows. By integrating genetics with ...
The Bushmen tell us a lot about human evolution and genetics
When it comes to the human genetics of the Khoe-San there’s a little that’s stale and unoriginal for me in ...
New gene-therapy approach could improve obesity treatment
Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have found a new way of using gene therapy to treat obesity. The ...
Cord blood-derived stem cells: New therapeutic option for brain disorders?
Stem cell technology has the potential to revolutionize medicine, but the revolution has been considerably slower than expected. Government restrictions ...
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act passes House of Representatives
The House of Representatives passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) of 2007 on Wednesday, April 25. GINA is expected ...
Research reveals that genetics may play a role in how people behave during a crisis
Many people may wonder how they would react in an emergency situation, one that could involve risking their lives to ...
Stem cells do decline with aging, scientists’ finding confirmed
The ageing process adversely affects the quantity of the bone marrow stem cells, was the finding by the Indo-Japan joint ...
Stem cells restore hearing in deaf gerbils
In a new study, scientists were able to restore partial hearing to deaf gerbils by implanting human embryonic stem cells ...
Meet the world’s first transhumanist politician
It's not necessarily a negative thing for us to become less human, says transhumanist politician Giuseppe Vatinno ...
Genome sequencing of one patient’s tumor could lead to new treatment options
“In mapping the entire genome of a tumor from a patient with advanced bladder cancer, researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering have ...
Potential of genetics to transform medicine risks being wasted, say experts
The genetics community needs to work far more collaboratively if it is to meet the challenges of the genomic era, ...
Single change in genetic sequence can significantly impact BMI variability
One small change to the DNA sequence can cause more weighty changes to the human body, according to a new ...
