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.
How tall will your children be? Here are the nature versus nurture factors
We often consider our height as being unchangeable, determined by our genetic make-up from when we were conceived. After all, ...
Looking past the aducanumab approval fiasco: 70 Alzheimer’s drugs are in the clinical pipeline
Researchers and drug makers have labored fruitlessly for decades to develop treatments that can slow [Alzheimer's] disease’s progression. More than ...
Why sickle cell disease is a perfect target candidate for CRISPR gene editing
When the gene-editing technology CRISPR/Cas9 was discovered in 2012 by Berkeley biochemist Jennifer Doudna and collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier, it changed ...
Considering using green tea extract, guar gum or acupuncture to lose weight? Think twice, studies show
A new comprehensive study published in the journal Obesity on June 23 has found that dietary supplements do not result in ...
When it comes to evolution, could humans be more impactful than nature?
The composition of our air and water is different from what it was even a few decades ago. There is ...
Viewpoint: ‘It’s banned in Europe fallacy’ — How advocacy groups weaponize EU’s questionable ‘precautionary’ bans on genetic engineering and chemicals
The argument, in a nutshell, asserts that something is dangerous or likely dangerous simply because it is banned in some ...
50,000 years ago, the Negev desert was home to consorting humans and Neanderthals
A recent reexamining of artifacts from the Boker Tachtit archaeological excavation site in Israel’s central Negev desert has found that ...
Despite breakthroughs in understanding why we age, slowing the inevitable is proving impossible
Backed by governments, business, academics and investors in an industry worth $110bn (£82.5bn) – and estimated to be worth $610bn ...
Suffering from a broken heart? It’s shocks the brain, impacts us like a mild heart attack and disproportionately affects women
Takotsubo syndrome, also known as broken heart syndrome, is a rare, reversible condition with symptoms mimicking a mild heart attack ...
Here’s an update on the (quixotic?) CRISPR gene editing project to revive the defunct woolly mammoth
As CRISPR allows scientists to splice individual genes that program for specific characteristics into the genome of living species, it ...
Drinking and evolution: Why do we seem programmed to consume alcohol if it’s bad for our health?
At sites in eastern Turkey, dating to perhaps 12,000 years ago, the remains of what appear to be brewing vats, ...
Israeli scientists have used gene editing to extend the life expectancy of mice by 23 percent. Can it be done to humans?
Researchers at the Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel said they’ve been able to increase the supply of SIRT6, a protein ...
Study: Quagmire surrounds the use and misuse of race in identifying and preventing health disparities
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, Carl Linnaeus and Johann Blumenbach used “race” to taxonomically classify human types. Linnaeus ...
The horrific scale of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre has not been fully catalogued — until now, using forensic analysis of remains found in a mass grave
Forensic scientists and archaeologists investigating a mass grave near the site of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre have unearthed skeletal ...
CRISPR milestone: Crippling transthyretin amyloidosis disease now treatable through gene editing, paving way for addressing other genetic diseases
[65-year-old Patrick] Doherty found out he had a rare, but devastating inherited disease — known as transthyretin amyloidosis — that ...
Higher breast cancer rates in Black women linked to healthcare access more than genetics, concludes study challenging other findings
The poorer breast cancer outcomes and higher death rates among Black women are most likely the result of racial disparities ...
Black women are six times more likely than White women to develop tumors that lead to breast cancer. Do genetically-based racial differences play a role?
Compared with white women, Black women are 40% more likely to die of the disease, and twice as likely if ...
Massive ‘dragon man’ skull found in Chinese well reveals possible new hominid family tree branch more closely related to modern humans than Neanderthals
The discovery of a huge fossilized skull that was wrapped up and hidden in a Chinese well nearly 90 years ...
Is Emotional Intelligence a real and measurable quality?
Emotional intelligence, the ability to regulate and perceive emotions, is the subject of much debate amongst scientists and the public ...
Decades-past DDT exposure shown to ‘haunt’ our bodies for three generations or more
Friends and family often ask Barbara Cohn, an epidemiologist at Oakland's Public Health Institute, why she studies the effects of ...
Concerned about depression? Wake up an hour earlier
People who tend to go to bed and wake up earlier have significantly lower risk of major depression, according to ...
‘If humans are so smart, why do women menstruate? Who thought that was a good idea?’ Interview with ‘Evolution Gone Wrong’ author Alexander Bezzerides
Okay, humans, if we're so smart, why do our backs hurt so much? Why do we cry? And menstruation, who ...
Puppy love: Dogs are born to understand people. Here’s how culture and evolution worked together
The fate of dog and man has been entwined for millennia (exactly how long is still a question, with estimates ...
Viewpoint: Culture is more powerful than genes to human evolution, researchers claim
In a new study, University of Maine researchers found that culture helps humans adapt to their environment and overcome challenges ...
Tough time recovering from jet lag? US government-university partnership developing implantable ‘living pharmacy’ to control our circadian clocks
A Northwestern University-led team of researchers has signed a cooperative agreement with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a ...
Our DNA can store a staggering amount of information in an almost inconceivably small volume
The prevailing long-term cold-storage method, which dates from the 1950s, writes data to pizza-sized reels of magnetic tape. By comparison, ...
Beyond dopamine: The science behind how and why the brain works to make us happy
[Dopamine is] one of the many, many chemicals (aka neurotransmitters) found in the human brain, where it has many functions ...
