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.
Sometimes, evolution comes with negative side effects
From rashes to irritable bowels, people today face certain health challenges because our ancestors evolved the genetic variations associated with ...
Jurassic World: Can cloning revive extinct species, protect endangered ones?
DNA can remain stable in bones for millions of years. Can it be mined to resurrect long-dead velociraptors? Woolly mammoths? ...
Epigenetic markers predict mortality better than biological age
Chemical changes to DNA that accumulate over a lifetime amount to a kind of biological clock. By analyzing these changes, ...
With House of Commons decision looming, what are researchers’ opinions on mitochondrial replacement?
On February 3, 2015, the House of Commons will be given the opportunity to approve a remarkable scientific technique: mitochondrial ...
What does Obama’s precision medicine initiative mean for future medical research?
The precision medicine initiative proposed by President Barack Obama last week would center on a huge new biobank containing medical ...
For hypersomniacs, no amount of sleep is enough
For most teenagers, getting out of bed in the morning is a drag. But when Lloyd Johnson was 13 years ...
Why ‘precision medicine” initiative will fall short of hype
President Obama's new budget is expected to include hundreds of millions of dollars for so-called precision medicine. The initiative, which ...
Play struggles to capture questions of neuroscience and human nature
In the first scene of Tom Stoppard’s new play The Hard Problem, the charming but arrogant neuroscientist is arguing with ...
Conventional beliefs about unconscious thought may be overblown
If you have to make a complex decision, will you do a better job if you absorb yourself in, say, ...
Longevity and Alzheimer’s risk both linked to one gene
People who carry a mutated gene linked to longer lifespan have extra tissue in part of the brain that seems ...
Why did most mammals stop laying eggs?
About a decade ago, Vincent Lynch emailed Frank Grutzner to ask for a tissue sample from a pregnant platypus. He ...
Sights set on CRISPR as potential tool in treating genetic diseases
Astra Zeneca has announced a research programme to develop a generation of medicines to treat the genetic causes of many ...
Political views dictate what science issues receive the most attention
In American scientization of politics culture, evolution acceptance is a big deal, as is climate change. Yet other science acceptance ...
Neuroscience needs to globalize focus on mental health
Neuroscience holds the key to understanding the brain – and to developing more effective treatments for people with mental health ...
Does the air you breathe alter your DNA?
Breathing nasty urban pollution does more than clog up your lungs — it actually messes with your genes. This disturbing ...
Tool use among early humans paved way for selection of language-related genes
It’s widely understood that human genetics can influence culture, but increasingly, the idea that culture can also affect genetics is ...
Can actual ‘young blood’ rejuvenate tissue and reverse aging?
Two mice perch side by side, nibbling a food pellet. As one turns to the left, it becomes clear that ...
Brain gives convincing evidence for distinction between gender and sex
Ever wonder about the brain's white matter microstructure diffusivity? Don't know what the hell we're talking about? Well, start paying ...
Starship “Egg”: Sending unborn, frozen embryos across interstellar space
Hibernation is a wonderful option for a small crew of explorers, but for a distant planet with an Earth Like ...
What does genome testing mean for questions of Native American ancestry?
The genetic sequencing company 23andMe recently tapped into its vast bank of data to release a study on genetic origins, ...
Hair loss? Stem cells offer promising cure
It's been theorised for years, but now human stem cells have resulted in hair growth for the very first time ...
Will genome sequencing provide impediment to medicine?
Genomics is increasingly hailed by many as the turning point in modern medicine. Advances in technology now mean we’re able ...
Related disorders currently lumped together misleadingly as “autism”
There are so many different genetic forms of autism that using the singular term, autism, is misleading, researchers say. “We ...
How prevalent is the belief in creationism today?
Dr. Amy Unsworth is a research fellow at the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge University ...
Newly discovered jawbone fuels mystery of ancient human evolution
A fisherman who pulled in his nets 25 kilometers off the coast of Taiwan got a surprising catch: the lower ...
Genetics proving instrumental in conservation of endangered species
Traditionally, conservation biologists have relied on field observation and sample and statistical analysis to help them understand the dynamics behind ...
Myriad Genetics ends feud over breast cancer screening patent
Myriad Genetics has essentially given up trying to stop other companies from offering tests for increased risk of breast cancer, ...
