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.
Virtual reality sex might soon be a reality. What can we expect?
VR sex simulation is not the same as porn. The term “VR porn” is therefore somewhat misleading. When viewing photos ...
2020’s most important human evolution discoveries
Since many scientific articles are years in the making, a lot of exciting discoveries were still revealed in 2020! … ...
IVF 14-day rule: Scientists and ethicists reconsidering how many days an embryo can be studied outside the womb
As early as 1979, regulators responded to [in-vitro fertilization ethical] concerns by establishing the ‘14-day rule’. It soon became an internationally accepted ...
‘Fossil Men’: Did humans evolve from apes or apes from humans?
In “Fossil Men: [The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind,” Kermit] Pattison weaves the multiple intrigues ...
Viewpoint: Fears grow that Trump’s anti-science extremism could fuel rise in creationism
Loss and humiliation do not make bad ideas go away. Rather, they can take on wilder and more outrageous forms ...
7,000 and counting – That’s how many diseases are linked to mutations that could be corrected with gene editing
Researchers have already identified DNA errors as the cause of nearly 7,000 diseases. Thankfully, the growing world of genome editing could ...
Genetically modified tomato developed to naturally produce Parkinson’s fighting L-DOPA drug
The John Innes Centre led team modified [a] tomato fruit by introducing a gene responsible for the synthesis of L-DOPA ...
Viewpoint: Halo Band not ready for primetime – Amazon’s invasive wearable health tracker gets a poor review
You haven’t exercised or slept enough, reports Amazon’s $65 Halo Band. Your body has too much fat, the Halo’s app shows ...
5 ways CRISPR has begun changing the world
[W]hile thousands of life scientists pivoted to trying to understand how the novel coronavirus wreaks havoc on the human body, and others transformed their ...
What the brain looks like when we’re lonely
A new study, headed by a team at McGill University, has now identified neurobiological signatures in the brains of lonely ...
The Serena Williams effect: Why younger siblings are more likely to become elite athletes
While Venus has enjoyed a magnificent career, winning seven Grand Slam singles titles, Serena has won 23 Grand Slams and is widely acclaimed ...
Reopening cold cases: The new tools revolutionizing DNA crime detection
Puzzle solvers by nature, genealogists tie the loose ends of a person’s familial tapestry for answers… It’s an emerging practice ...
Saints and psychopaths, light and dark: Which personality type is more likely to succeed?
There is an oft-touted saying that ‘Nice guys finish last’ and, on the face of it, this might seem correct ...
Who are the most notorious (and most dangerous) anti-vaccination activists?
I decided to bring to you the people behind the [anti-vax series The Truth About Vaccines]. It is quite a ...
13 discoveries in 2020 that have transformed what we know about human evolution
Here are some of the most eye-raising anthropological findings of 2020. … 2) Certain Neanderthal genes, researchers found, code for proteins ...
Exploring the science and mystery of dreams
While there is a vigorous debate over whether the actual conscious experiencing of dreams while they occur serves a function, ...
Video: Instead of paying with a credit card, what if you could simply touch a scanner with your finger?
Instead of inserting a card or scanning a smartphone to make a payment, what if you could simply touch the ...
Does being born first help in life? Yes, but just a little bit
An analysis of a longitudinal study that tracked 3,763 Americans across 50 years found no evidence that birth order is linked to the ...
How Neanderthal genes found in most non-Africans impact the health of modern humans
A researcher at the University of Tartu described new associations between Neandertal DNA and autoimmune diseases, prostate cancer and type ...
COVID tests often yield false results, underscoring the limits of testing to control pandemics
National coronavirus test shortages have emphasized testing’s critical role in containing and mitigating the pandemic, but these inconvenient truths remain: ...
Pigs are ‘hot’ as family pets. Are they as social as dogs?
Pork is now the most widely eaten meat in the world. At the same time, owing to the creation of novel, smaller ...
‘Extinguishing of other species is one of our defining traits’: How humans are destroying the world’s animals, insects and plants
If extinctions are events, they are so only in geological time, and geological time is rather vast. The late Devonian ...
Plants poised to become a critical source to make vaccines for dengue and other diseases
Dengue is a pathogenic mosquito-borne virus belonging to the Flaviviridae family that causes 390 million infections per year. A safe, ...
We assume life originated as a freak occurrence in a disordered, primordial soup of chemicals. Is this model wrong?
What is becoming increasingly clear is that interacting collectives of “dumb” particles can evolve into specialized structures with fine-tuned relationships ...
Skull of two-million-year old human cousin found in South Africa illustrates how ancient species adapted to new challenges
Academics from La Trobe University’s Archaeology Department in Melbourne, Australia led the excavation and reconstruction of the large-toothed rare skull from the Drimolen ...
Facial recognition is growing with COVID – and sparking a burgeoning resistance movement
Facial-recognition technology (FRT) has long been in use at airport borders and on smartphones, and as a tool to help ...
Science has limits: Unraveling the medical mystery of one woman’s pelvic pains
Between 2012 and 2018, she consulted her own doctors and made eight trips to an urgent care center or emergency ...
