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.
Sourcing stem cells from breast milk
A solution to the ethical dilemma of using human embryonic stem cells to treat human diseases could be staring us ...
Should we outlaw genetic discrimination?
The late US law Professor Paul Miller reflected recently that Beethoven, Stephen Hawking and Elton John were examples of individuals ...
Environmental influence on epigenetics
It is called epigenetics. This is where at the microscopic level the genes should function normal but something in the ...
Stem cells shield can protect patients from chemotherapy
It may be possible to use "stem cell shielding" to protect the body from the damaging effects of chemotherapy, early ...
Wolf found in New Brunswick for first time in 150 years, testing confirms
Genetic testing has confirmed that an animal fatally shot last month by a hunter in northern New Brunswick was a ...
FDA approves experimental stem cell therapy to help deaf ear repair itself
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently approved a groundbreaking trial by the University of Texas Medical School at ...
As gene mapping nears $1,000, will it improve our health?
The cost of mapping a person's full genetic profile has been dropping quickly. Now, doctors are struggling with a new ...
Going hostile with $2.6 billion Human Genome offer
GlaxoSmithKline will take its $2.6 billion bid for long-time partner Human Genome Sciences direct to shareholders this week, after its ...
Tilghman reflects on DNA study
A solution to the ethical dilemma of using human embryonic stem cells to treat human diseases could be staring us ...
Fighting breed-related diseases
The refinement of purebred dogs over the past four or five centuries has created interesting versions of Canis familiaris, such ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
