Human Genetics Features
The GLP tackles innovations in human genetics and biotechnology. We highlight the work of our own writers, as well as that of contributors from around the Web. The GLP does not take a position on genetics-related issues; any opinions expressed belong to the authors.
Categories include:
- CRISPR and gene editing
- Gene therapy
- Stem cell research
- Genetic diseases
- Synthetic biology
- Epigenetics
- Biodrugs (pharmacogenetics)
- Personal genomics
- Ancestry and evolution
- Ethics and regulations
Genetic short cuts: Horizontal gene transfer
Some plants rely on specialized bacterial backup to help them synthesize nutrients. Instead of evolving these traits over and over ...
Is “reductionism” in behavioral genetics a boon or curse?
Reductionism haunts modern genetics, but how has this approach — akin to taking apart a watch to see how it ...
Deconstructing the polarizing debate over ‘3-parent babies’
On most issues, the public debate follows a normal distribution curve, with the majority in the 'muddled middle'. That's not ...
Humans’ love for simple stories and status quo make opinions intractable in face of fact
Popular opinions about complex issues in science and technology are often held to even when facts and experts are presented ...
Parasite practices genetic mind control to spread infection
Toxoplasma gondii, the parasitic infection that may infect almost half the worlds human population uses some special trick to control ...
Richard Dawkins’ moral policing aside, new era of fetal diagnostics underway
What would you do if you were pregnant with a fetus affected by a severe disorder? Abortion is often the ...
When the media hypes epigenetics, mothers take the blame
There's a lot of talk about epigenetics in the news, but scientists still don't know what it all means. A ...
Brain, behavior and genetics
The link between our genetics and how we behave is the topic of much speculation, some if it highly controversial ...
Personal genomics: Care to update your haplogroup status page?
Personalized genomics offers the opportunity to revolutionize medical care and our understanding of disease. But many first adopters won’t wait ...
Food labels: Gimmicks or guides to the future of food?
We are experiencing a labeling orgy. Consumers with no gluten allergies are snapping up gluten free producers. Non-GMO labels pump ...
Genome sequencing is getting cheaper, but might make healthcare more expensive
Cheaper genomic sequencing will give more patients and their physicians access to genetics in the healthcare system. But will that ...
Can open-source strategy help synbio avoid controversial fate of GMOs?
It’s not the use of recombinant technology, but rather capitalism and greed that has stigmatized genetic engineering in our culture ...
How a small stretch of DNA can keep species separate — even when they interbreed
Sometimes, two distinct species interbreed, even though they're technically not supposed to. But what stops these rare cases of hybridization ...
Beyond autopsies: Using post-mortem brain scans to understand stroke, head injury and death
Besides their ability to lie completely still in MRI scanners, making them excellent patients, corpses have a lot of offer ...
How do hummingbirds find life-sustaining nectar without sweet-taste receptor genes?
Birds can't taste sweet, they lack all traces of genes for sweet-taste receptors. So how is it that hummingbirds -- ...
Ten years in, first trial treatment from California’s stem cell initiative approved
It’s been ten years since California voters approved their state-funded stem cell initiative. Critics have charged that the initiative as ...
Black Plague modified human genes, no biotech needed
Evidence continues to build that at least part of our ancestors’ story is encoded in our DNA--and the information comes ...
I’m more afraid of my kids’ genomic data NOT being sequenced than how it might be misused
The era of precision genomics is upon us, and as with GMO foods, that scares some people. But not GLP ...
Diet wars: ‘Caveman diet’ is all the rage, but ignores what our ancient ancestors really ate
Before the advances that made agriculture possible, humans ate solely what they could hunt and gather, which varied wildly depending ...
23andMe moves to mend fences with FDA, seeks Bloom syndrome test approval
Seven months after the FDA forced 23andMe to stop reporting health results to its customers, the personal genomics company is ...
Genetic empowerment: Extreme athlete probes own genetics to streamline diagnosis
When extreme athlete Kim Goodsell discovered that she had two extremely rare but ostensibly unrelated genetic diseases, she taught herself ...
More details on Google’s Baseline human health project
Google X’s new Baseline Project was made public in July. Although widely reported that the study would only focus on ...
When is a ‘modified organism’ a GMO?
Where is the threshold between natural "involvement" and unnatural "interference" when using technology to improve our food? ...
Information-rich society drains our brains of creativity if we don’t take needed breaks
Creativity, argues neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, requires mental downtown for ideas and connections to bubble up out of our knowledge base ...
Is epigenetics being exploited by the media?
Epigenetics has seen a flurry of research and headlines lately, achieving science-buzzword status. But is the immature nature of the ...
How ancient humans can help us better understand ourselves
For 200,000 years, modern humans have walked the earth. How did we become what we are today? In answering this ...
Video: Appetite control and emotion arise from similar brain areas
Relatively few neurons, only thousands, control appetite in a brain region linked to inhibition, fear and emotion according to a ...
