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.
Last surviving white giraffe, a genetic anomaly, fitted with GPS tracker to deter poachers
The unique male [white] giraffe now stands alone after a female and her calf were killed by poachers in March. [A] ...
Possibility of life on Venus fades after reanalysis of atmospheric data
In September, an international team of astronomers made headlines when it reported finding phosphine — a potential marker of life ...
Charles Darwin proposed the theory of life’s watery creation 100 years ahead of everyone else
Darwin never wrote about how life began in his books, but he did speculate about it in private. The key ...
Socially responsible artificial skin: Skin-equivalent functions almost like the real thing and does not need to be tested on animals
[S]kin provides a barrier and physical cushion that protects the body from the external environment. In addition to responding to ...
‘A million years of memory and history, biology and psychology’: The science behind what makes the dog-human bond so unique
In a minute or two, Winston will choose. And in that moment will be a million years of memory and ...
Aging reversed using high-pressure hyperbaric oxygen chamber, Israeli researchers claim in peer reviewed study
Scientists in Israel showed they could turn back the clock in two key areas of the body believed to be ...
Planet of the Apes redux? Human brain gene inserted into monkey fetuses enlarged their brains, raising ethical concerns
Researchers from Germany’s Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Germany and Japan’s Central Institute for Experimental ...
Prescription-strength omega-3 fatty acid fish oil supplements don’t prevent heart disease, study finds
Prior research into a prescription medicine derived from fish called Vascepa, announced earlier this year, suggested it might be of real value ...
‘Already facing extinction’: Recently discovered leaf-eating Popa langur species down to 200 monkeys
Langurs are a group of leaf-eating monkeys that are found across south east Asia. The newly described animal is known ...
Natural Cycles wearable birth control monitor on track for FDA approval
The Natural Cycles app uses daily temperature measurements and period cycle tracking to predict the days someone is least likely ...
How long do most mammal species survive before going extinct?
How long do species usually last before they go extinct? It turns out the answer we find now could be ...
Endometriosis relief: Breakthrough treatment for severe cases on the horizon using epigenetics
[Scientists from Michigan State University] pharmacologically inhibited P300, a protein implicated in the dysregulation of endometrial epithelial cells, which normally ...
Precision medicines addressing unique diseases are poised to become more accessible
Today, companies are developing new models to lower the costs of manufacturing and bring [precision medicine] drugs to more patients ...
Is your temperature lower than 98.6? Here’s why you shouldn’t be worried
Feeling under the weather? Chances are you or your doctor will grab a thermometer, take your temperature and hope for ...
FDA mulling approval of a device that monitors brains using electrodes threaded through veins and plugged into a computer
For decades, technologists have been trying to get brains to interface with computer keyboards or robot arms, to get meat ...
Large autism mutation risk does not increase as parents age, study finds
Spontaneous, or de novo, mutations can occur in a sperm or egg cell, or very early on in an embryo’s ...
Almost 50 years after brutal rape and murder, DNA cracks cold case, suspect commits suicide before conviction
For 47 years, the case remained cold, with little evidence of who assaulted and murdered [20-year-old Jody] Loomis — until ...
AI might be able to diagnose whether you have COVID-19 by just monitoring your cough
The difference between a healthy person’s cough and the cough of someone infected with [SARS-CoV-2] is so slight that it’s ...
Scientists reconstructed fox-sized dinosaur ‘pea brain’
According to [a] new study, Buriolestes schultzi’s brain had an elongated shape and weighed about 1.5 grams, as much as a ...
200 million people contract malaria each year. A genetically engineered vaccine might soon be coming
Malaria’s catastrophic toll has inspired many attempts to create a viable vaccine, but the genetic complexity of the malaria parasite ...
Women and HIV: 6 shots a year shown to be more effective than daily pill
Women have had only one approved option for pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, a course of drugs taken to prevent contracting ...
How synthetic biology can eliminate pollutants in wastewater and soil
Allonnia launched with $40 million in funding to engineer and commercialize microbes to eliminate pollutants in wastewater and soil. "The waste ...
HIV infections among gay and bisexual men hit 20 year low
A PHE report reveals that overall, across all genders and sexualities, the number of people with a new HIV diagnosis dropped ...
Males=hunters, females=gatherers? Not so fast. Many early big-game hunters were women, research suggests
In 2018, during archaeological excavations at a high-altitude site called Wilamaya Patjxa in what is now Peru, researchers found an ...
If your disposition is cheerful, you’re less likely to experience memory decline
A new study published in the journal Psychological Science found that people who feel enthusiastic and cheerful -- what psychologists call "positive ...
Human brains prewired to understand words
Analyzing brain scans of newborns, researchers found that this part of the brain – called the "visual word form area" ...
Dreaming while awake is possible and other strange facts about dreams
[W]e’ve examined five strange findings about dreaming from the psychology literature: … 3. People who no longer think can still ...
