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.
European regulators back western world’s first gene therapy drug
European regulators have recommended approval of the Western world's first gene therapy drug -- after rejecting it on three previous ...
Nanoscale scaffolds and stem cells show future promise for cartilage repair and joint pain
Johns Hopkins tissue engineers have used tiny, artificial fiber scaffolds thousands of times smaller than a human hair to help ...
Of flies and men: Scientists make interesting discovery of how flies regulate sex genes, could be important for humans in the future
What do you get when you dissect 10 000 fruit-fly larvae? A team of researchers led by the EMBL-European Bioinformatics ...
FDA balances costs, patient safety in the biologics and personalized medicine revolution
Sometimes what you see is not all you get. Whether or not you support healthcare reform, the implementation of any ...
Is Elvis in your children’s DNA future? Furor develops over possible use of ‘celebrity’ genes
A British artist’s plan to create a mouse with Elvis Presley’s DNA as part of a larger project to exploit ...
World renowned in vitro fertilization pioneer says stem cell acceptance is on the rise in the US
Public acceptance of stem cell therapies has increased in recent years, with a renowned global expert believing Australians could be ...
Is IQ in the genes? The PC hypocrisy of intelligence studies.
In his new book, the brilliant psychologist James Flynn, of Otago University in New Zealand, has revealed that, for the ...
Tarnished medals: Will genetic engineering change the Olympics?
Will the Olympics as we know it survive genetic engineering? That seems to be the question behind a new opinion ...
Epigenetics III: Further look into epigenetics, evolution and the environment: How are they all connected?
In this article, James A. Shapiro, professor of microbiology, explains the genetic relationships between epigenetics, evolution and the environment ...
World’s first patient-initiated, crowdfunded genome sequencing project uncovers young child’s unknown genetic disease
The Rare Genomics Institute (RGI), a non-profit organization that uses genome sequencing and other biotechnology to help children with rare ...
Arizona statute on genetic testing has young boy’s future in limbo
Evan Serrano, of Arizona, has a rare degenerative disorder called Friedreich Ataxia. At least, that's what doctors think. But Evan's ...
Cells get a makeover, cancer follows: A path to new therapies or warning to stem cell alchemists?
Scientists keep finding new ways to play with cells and make them alter their behavior, even their identity ...
Foods of the future: What you’ll be eating in 2035
In a new book, The Taste of Tomorrow: Dispatches from the Future of Food, author Josh Schonwald examines how foodies, ...
Should pregnant women be offered genome screening for their unborn baby?
With researchers announcing this week that they were able to sequence the genome of a fetus using only a blood ...
Physicians need more education on personalized medicine
Consumers armed with genetic testing information from the likes of 23andMe and a whole host of gene testing companies are ...
Synthetic biology: New frontiers, and a DNA laser printer?
It’s been a good month for synthetic biology. A few weeks ago, in a great talk (on the concept of ...
Researchers identify mechanisms that allow embryonic stem cells to become any cell in the body
New research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem sheds light on pluripotency—the ability of embryonic stem cells to renew themselves ...
Native Americans migrated to the New World in three waves, Harvard-led DNA analysis shows
An exhaustive study of DNA taken from dozens of Native American groups that span from Canada to the tip of ...
Researchers turn skin cells into brain cells, a promising path to better Parkinson’s treatment
Using adult stem cells, Johns Hopkins researchers and a consortium of colleagues nationwide say they have generated the type of ...
Genetic tests for Alzheimer’s disease a comfort for the majority
Several genetic tests are available for Alzheimer’s disease, both for the general public and for those with a family history ...
Gene therapy treatment extends lives of mice with fatal disease
A team of University of Missouri researchers has found that introducing a missing gene into the central nervous system could ...
Dispelling myths about Jews and genetics
The current issue of Moment, the Jewish-focused general interest magazine, has an informative, fascinating feature of the medical and historical ...
Are Ethiopians descended from the Queen of Sheba?
Razib Khan of Discover Magazine’s Gene Expression blog, challenges the facile reporting in a slew of articles based on an ...
Epigenetics II: Cellular memory, imprinting, and targeting genome configuration
This is number two in my series of blogs on epigenetic control of genome restructuring and hereditary transmission of traits ...
GMO in sport: Genetically Modified Olympians?
As athletes get ready to smash Olympic records in London, scientists are in a high-stakes race of their own to ...
Differences in twins’ DNA set in the womb
Environment can have a strong influence on genes in the womb and could account for differences in identical twins, according ...
Genetic testing for athletes
Some doctors are asking if athletes should be genetically tested to see if they are at a greater risk for ...
