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.
‘Omicron has started to splinter’: Winter COVID wave may come with a ‘dizzying barrage’ of new variants
The last big variant of concern — the hypertransmissible Omicron offshoot known as BA.5 — peaked in July. Since then, ...
Ancient exchange of ideas: Modern humans and Neanderthals shared designs for jewelry and stone tools
Modern humans lived alongside Neanderthals for more than 1,000 years in Europe, according to research that suggests the two species may have ...
‘If you want to stop the condition, you need to regrow brain cells’: Inside the ‘hugely complex’ fight against Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s was first described in medical texts more than 200 years ago, yet there is still no cure. It’s a ...
Long COVID can strip away a decade’s worth of exercise gains, study suggests
Long covid can rob people of health, energy, employment and joy. It may also strip away the equivalent of a ...
Immunity boost: Some people with ‘lucky genes’ may get an extra strong protection from COVID shots
Researchers analysed blood samples from people who took part in five different trials, including 1,600 adults who had either the ...
Male birth control update: After decades of development, what’s standing in the way of products that actually work?
There has been a strong interest in new contraceptives for men over the past decade, but little progress has been ...
Why did humans evolve bigger brains than our hominid cousins?
Changes in the size and organization of the brain distinguish the emergence of modern humans, but we know little about ...
Human brain cells grown in rats offer ‘more ethical option’ to study neurological diseases
Letting human brain organoids grow in animal brains could be an ethical new option for experimental studies of neurological disorders ...
‘What’s happening to me?’ Even doctors struggle to find answers after coming down with long COVID
According to a recent survey published by the National Center for Health Statistics, about 14% of all US adult populations have experienced ...
‘Sending a Trojan horse into cancer cells’ Can this genetically-engineered bacteria stop tumors in their tracks?
Scientists know cancers have an uncanny ability to travel through the body by slipping in and out of blood vessels ...
Why are some children way taller or shorter than their parents? This study of over 5 million people reveals relationship between height and genes
A new study, published October 12 in Nature, is the largest ever genome-wide association study, using the DNA of over ...
First life forms on Mars could have created a ‘reverse greenhouse effect’ — making the planet inhospitable and leading to their extinction
Ancient microbial life on Mars could have destroyed the planet’s atmosphere through climate change, which ultimately led to its extinction, ...
New treatments for rare, inherited childhood diseases? CRISPR sheep help advance research
A flock of gene-edited sheep has been used by scientists to pinpoint a promising treatment for a lethal inherited brain ...
Video: How scientists taught mouse brain cells in a petri dish to play Pong
The classic 1970s arcade game Pong is so simple that apparently, anyone can play it – including brain cells in ...
A CRISPR cure for HIV? Gene-editing technology may be able stop viral replication in its tracks and wipe out infections
In July, an HIV-positive man became the first volunteer in a clinical trial aimed at using Crispr gene editing to ...
Here comes COVID winter 3. What can we expect?
Hospitals nationwide are preparing for another winter with Covid — the first one that's also expected to include high levels ...
California bill bars doctors from spreading COVID misinformation to patients — but not on social media, raising doubts about its effectiveness
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation on September 30 that gives the state some ammunition against physicians who spread lies about COVID ...
Why some people resist taking potentially life-saving genetic tests for breast cancer
The past decade has witnessed a rapid expansion of genetic tests, including new instruments to inform patients who have been ...
COVID was way deadlier in Red State Republicans than for Democrats. What’s the role of anti-vaccine rhetoric?
Despite early wide-scale access to COVID-19 vaccines, the U.S. has outstripped its peer countries when it comes to the all-important ...
‘Near-limitless CRISPR therapies’: This drug delivery breakthrough helps gene editing technology infiltrate cells
A team of researchers at Northwestern University has devised a new platform for gene editing that could inform the future ...
Some people can still feel lost limbs after amputation. Here’s how studying ‘phantom limb syndrome’ could offer clues to understanding consciousness
Phantom limbs are a striking demonstration of the importance of the body for self-consciousness ...
Just add air and water: The simplest recipe for life on Earth
The origins of how life on Earth arose remains a deep existential and scientific mystery. It’s long been theorized that ...
‘The third time might not be the charm’: Is there a limit to how many times you can get COVID?
One wonders whether the cycle could continue forever—whether many of us will eventually get covid for a fourth time, or a fifth, ...
Taking a break from alcohol? Here’s the positive changes in the brain when you stop drinking for a month
With the explosion of craft beer, hard seltzers and family-friendly breweries across the U.S., you may be surprised to learn ...
Reports of debilitating ‘climate anxiety’ fill the news. Is it real and widespread?
Forest fires, floods, hurricanes, drought, extreme heat. Our planet is now experiencing climate change unprecedented in human history. For some, ...
Acne affects half of people over 25 in Western countries — but it’s ‘basically nonexistent’ in non-industrialized societies. Why?
While acne affects half of people over age 25 in modern societies, it's basically nonexistent in non-industrialized societies. This disparity ...
A common flu strain all but vanished last winter. Could COVID have pushed it to extinction?
Many subtypes of the influenza virus all but vanished. But most notably, one entire lineage—one of only four flu groups ...
