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.
For modern parents, how to weigh pros and cons of sequencing baby’s genome
At 31 years old, not a day goes by without overhearing one of my friends discuss the pros and cons ...
No, a single hormone cannot turn mice gay
In 2011, a group of scientists “turned mice gay.” The only issue is, of course, they didn’t. Rather, Yi Rao ...
How can we best consider the consequences of altering a human genome?
The advent of CRISPR/Cas9 again sees a biomedical technology challenging norms and raising concerns. CRISPR/Cas9 makes it comparatively easy to ...
Human germline modification sorely in need of ethical discourse
An Institute of Medicine committee is in the midst of a 19-month study, undertaken at the FDA’s request, of the ...
Health, ethics, or money: What’s really driving CRISPR debate?
A momentous technological revolution is unfolding in our very real, no longer fictive ability to easily and cheaply alter the ...
What rocks women? Evolution suggests tall guys with hot cars
In prehistoric times, the more dominant male was the more successful hunter, and he was physically stronger than most other ...
Mountain gorillas’ genome sequenced in hope of saving declining species from extinction
Mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) are among the most iconic endangered species in the world and, as such, have become ...
Doctor wants to remove head from human body, put it on another
It sounds like the plot for a science fiction movie. Someone has a horrific accident and winds up in the ...
One decade old, Genographic Project’s probe into human history boasts numerous successes
Ten years ago, a group of international scientists and indigenous community members gathered at National Geographic Society’s headquarters in Washington, D.C ...
Half animal, half human? Genetic engineering closes gap with science fiction
Half-animal, half-human? The astounding developments in nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science (NBIC) are posing problems that we thought ...
Sex with robots? Androids are coming to our bedrooms and boardrooms
In the near future, people will interact with androids, converse with them, even have sex with them and artificial intelligence ...
Humans and chimps seen as not as similar as once thought
When geneticist Mary Claire King became the first scientist to compare the genes of chimps and humans in 1975, she was in ...
Northern European hunter-gatherers resisted agricultural revolution
Crops and livestock have been a part of the human experience for thousands of years. But, for some of our ...
Human germline editing debate needs public discourse more than moratorium
Three high-profile scientific statements published in quick succession called for various kinds of moratoria on research on and/or use of ...
History repeating itself? Rising acidity in oceans may drive species to extinction
Earth’s greatest extinction event happened in a one-two punch 252 million years ago. Research now suggests that the second pulse ...
Doctors to begin scanning fetus’ entire genome for genetic abnormalities
If you could gaze into a crystal ball and discover whether your newborn baby might have health problems, would you ...
Researchers across food, fuel, drug industries seek standards for synthetic biology
Synthetic biologists have a vision. Researchers in this young field, who build ‘devices’ from engineered genes and other molecular components, ...
Moms’ breastmilk helps establish healthy microbe community in babies’ gut
Breast milk seems like a simple nutritious cocktail for feeding babies, but it is so much more than that. It ...
Attractive men bring out gambler in less-sexy males
There's nothing like the sight of a rival to embolden a man, it seems. If you want a straight man ...
Is there still hope for coral reefs damaged by human activity?
Humans bear much of the responsibility for the steady decimation of coral reefs. The marine ecosystems have been overfished, dissolved ...
Committing sex crimes may be influenced largely by genetics
Brothers of men convicted of sexual offences are five times more likely than average to commit the same types of ...
Brain irony: It needs to shut down sometimes to promote thinking
It turns out that a little bit of disconnect goes a long way in learning motor tasks, according to a ...
Might astronauts bring back a deadly disease from Mars?
While it's possible that a human pathogen might exist on Mars or on another alien world , the extraterrestrial environment ...
Brain scan can help protect contact athletes from serious disease
Twelve years ago a rare and serious disease was discovered in the brain, post mortem, of U.S. football player"Iron" Mike ...
Can ancient Anglo-Saxon remedy cure MRSA infection?
A plant-based ointment recipe pulled from a 1,000-year-old manuscript is spiking excitement about what historical knowledge and traditional remedies can do to ...
Ancestry.com launches genetic service, but how much can it tell about heritage?
With only a bit of your saliva, Ancestry.com can send you a list of people you are related to, even ...
For AI to succeed, computers need to think more like humans
Imagine if every time you learned something new, you completely forgot how to do a thing you'd already learned. Finally ...
