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.
Researchers report a gene-therapy success
For a quarter of a century, gene therapy has been stymied, largely because the patient's immune system attacks the treatment ...
Geneticist develops tool to identify genes important in disease, tailoring individual treatment
Though the human genome has been sequenced, scientists are still trying to figure out how the accomplishment can help people, ...
Google founder targets cure for Parkinson’s disease
Sergey Brin, the 38-year-old co- founder of Google Inc. (GOOG), is making strides in his quest to find a cure ...
University study finds mixed reception of genetic testing
Researchers at Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine have found that patients see both benefits and risks from direct-to-consumer ...
Toothless no more- Researchers using stem cells to grow teeth
It may be hard to remember what it was like to lose a tooth as a child, but many adults ...
Risk and DNA: In search of the money gene
What makes someone want to start a business? That was what the young economist Philipp Koellinger was trying to figure ...
Does patenting genes stifle innovation and health care access?
Three years in the making, the now highly publicized American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against Myriad Genetics is still hanging ...
Genetics of homosexuality: “Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t publish”?
Critics of homosexuals portray it as a “deviant” lifestyle choice and a violation of God’s will. Some religious conservatives argue ...
International study hopes to identify genetic markers to predict response to antidepressants
A group of research centers spanning five continents is in the middle of a clinical trial intended to identify genetic ...
Genetic study traces horse domestication to Russia
A genetic study of horses across Eastern Europe and Central Asia has traced the domestication of one of man's most ...
Enzyme corrects more than one million faults in DNA replication
Scientists from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine (IGMM) at the University of Edinburgh have ...
Test-tube’ babies have more birth defects?
Test-tube babies have higher rates of birth defects, and doctors have long wondered: Is it because of certain fertility treatments ...
Minnesotans weigh pros and cons of breakthrough genetic testing technology
Lynn is a Minneapolis artist, inspired by international science. “I have a real curiosity,” she says, as a string of ...
Will Gattaca come true?
Noninvasive, early fetal tests for sex, paternity and chromosomal conditions will change pregnancy dramatically- and raise tricky ethical questions.A scientist ...
What is life? Follow the bits
The debate over the definition of life is getting messier and messier, but one of the pioneers on the biochemical ...
Tiny ancient animal club gains a member: Mini-mammoth
There's a new addition to the "tiny ancient animals I'd like to have as a pet" list: a mini-mammoth that ...
Can blood test predict breast cancer risk?
A blood test that spots changes in a specific gene could reveal a woman's risk for breast cancer years before ...
Newborns with missing spleen – Genetic link identified
A study published online in the May 3 edition of Developmental Cell reveals that researchers at the Weill Cornell Medical ...
Canadian geneticist discovers secret behind the blond-haired Solomon Islanders
The discovery of a gene mutation that gives some Soloman Islanders platinum blond hair has important implications for medicine and ...
Breaking the genome bottleneck
The genomic data generated from next-generation sequencing machines doesn't amount to much more than alphabet soup if it's not subjected ...
Advanced genetic screening method may speed vaccine development
Vaccines remain the best line of defense against deadly pathogens and now Kathryn Sykes and Stephen Johnston, researchers at Arizona ...
European Commission consults on animal cloning in food production
The European Commission (EC) is urging industry players, public bodies and ordinary citizens to take part in its consultation exercise ...
Genetic literacy poor in primary care
Despite early predictions of huge public demand for direct-to-consumer genetic testing, it’s safe to say personal genetic data isn’t clogging ...
Researcher says stem cell work speeds healing process
One day, a serious fracture might not take months to heal. Instead, with the injection of a putty made of ...
Cloning teeth! Medicine’s next big thing?
Nearly 70 percent of adults age 35 to 44 have lost at least one permanent tooth, and by age 74, ...
Cleveland Clinic to open personalized medicine center
Cleveland Clinic has become the latest to jump into the hot field of personalized medicine, announcing plans to open a ...
Give stem cells ‘A’
Almost halfway through a $600 million state program supporting stem cell research, eight medical schools around New York are reporting ...
