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.
As prices for prenatal genome sequencing tests fall, some worry about consequences for families in a real-life ‘Gattaca’
If you could know your unborn child's entire genetic makeup, would you want to? Researchers believe that tests that detail ...
Mitochondrial DNA may hold answer to why women live longer than men
Scientists working on fruit flies say their work provides an answer to the question of why women tend to live ...
Scottish people’s DNA study could ‘rewrite nation’s history’
A large scale study of Scottish people's DNA is threatening to "rewrite the nation's history", according to author Alistair Moffat ...
Behind the hype on stem cells
There's a lot of hype about the potential for stem cells to revolutionise medicine, but the race to innovation shouldn't ...
23andMe makes music from your DNA
Most people don’t go around all day and wonder what secrets might be hidden in their genes. Personal genomics startup ...
Gene discovery could improve treatment for acute myeloid leukemia
Scientists have made a discovery involving mice and humans that could mean that people with acute myeloid leukemia, a usually ...
Controversy over scientists plan to map and make public extended family’s genome
Not as many people around the world cared about the genes of Manuel Corpas and his family as he had ...
Frozen human embryos yield viable stem cells biomedical research
Even after being frozen for 18 years, human embryos can be thawed, grown in the laboratory, and successfully induced to ...
New genetic risk factors for diabetes discovered
Two large-scale gene association projects have identified a large number of new loci that influence glycemic traits such as blood ...
Genetic studies give clues to Tourette Syndrome and OCD
Two new large-scale studies searching for the genetic links to a couple of relatively common psychiatric conditions show how difficult ...
Malaria genome sequencing brings hope
The search for a vaccine against malaria remains high on the global research agenda for many years. The parasites being ...
Study uses stem cells to boost red blood cell production
Using human stem cells, scientists have developed methods to boost the production of red blood cells, according to a new ...
The DNA Olympics- Jamaicans win sprinting ‘genetic lottery’- and why we should all care
Jon Entine takes stock of the DNA London Olympics–where, as usual, African-descended athletes swept the running events while whites and ...
Controversy heats up over whether or not modern humans may have mated with Neanderthals
Over the years, there have been many studies regarding the possibility of whether or not humans and Neanderthals really interbred- ...
Transplant of sibling’s stem cells shows promise in sickle-cell fight
Ieshea Thomas, who has suffered from sickle cell anemia nearly all of her life, recently received a life-changing gift from ...
Clinic taps patients’ own stem cells to ease their pain
A Sartell doctor offers a stem cell treatment instead of surgery, but critics say it's too soon. The trend has ...
The DNA Olympics — Jamaicans win sprinting ‘genetic lottery’ — and why we should all care
Jon Entine, author of Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We’re Afraid to Talk About It,” takes stock ...
Study uses stem cells to boost red blood cell production
Using human stem cells, scientists have developed methods to boost the production of red blood cells, according to a new ...
New prenatal testing can detect more genetic problems
A new method of prenatal testing that can detect more genetic problems in a fetus than ever before could be ...
Scientists find the stem cells that drive our creativity
A newly-discovered type of stem cell could be the key to higher thinking in humans, research suggests. Scientists have identified ...
Stem cells may help prevent post-injury arthritis
Researchers may have found a promising stem cell therapy for preventing osteoarthritis after a joint injury. Injuring a joint greatly ...
Stem cell research begins for spinal cord injury repair
The state's stem-cell institute has awarded $20 million to UC Irvine researchers, along with a private company, to prepare the ...
Vitamin-boosted stem cells show promise in curing baldness
A team of researchers in Japan has discovered that VD3, a super-active form of Vitamin D, boosts stem cells to ...
Epigenetics in action: Experience alters DNA expression
It was long thought that methylation, a crucial part of normal organism development, was a static modification of DNA that ...
Genetic testing for a ‘gay’ gene: Is it a possibility?
For the most part, when you think of genetic testing, you usually think of a situation in which the parents ...
Genetic variant may drive body tremors
A genetic mutation may be responsible for essential tremor that runs in families, researchers found. Exome sequencing studies of several ...
Identically different: Why you can change your genes
The Olympic Isle on opening night was "full of noises, / Sounds, and sweet airs that give delight and hurt ...
