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.
Children of alcoholics slower at switching from one task to another, study suggests
One of the strongest predictors of becoming an alcoholic is family history: the offspring of people with the disorder are ...
Our brains aren’t computers and why it hinders research to think of them that way
By viewing the brain as a computer that passively responds to inputs and processes data, we forget that it is ...
Video: Why do people lose their hair? And can we bring it back?
What do Charles Darwin, Michael Jordan, and Yoda have in common? They, like many other historical and fictional individuals, are ...
Conspiracy theorists suggest the coronavirus was engineered in a Chinese lab. The scientific consensus disagrees.
[O]n Fox News and social media, a dangerous conspiracy theory about the origin of the health crisis won’t die. There ...
Is being obese similar to being old? Both make the body vulnerable to life-threatening diseases, researchers say
Globally, an estimated 1.9 billion adults and 380 million children are overweight or obese. According to the World Health Organization, ...
For treating epileptic seizures, pharmaceutical CBD is more effective than ‘artisanal’ alternatives, researchers say
Children and teens with epilepsy who were treated with pharmaceutical cannabidiol (CBD) had much better seizure control than those who were treated ...
Common form of inherited blindness shows ‘massive improvements’ with experimental gene therapy
This month, K.L. became one of the first patients to receive a new experimental gene therapy for children with a ...
Fertility breakthrough: First baby born from eggs matured in lab before being frozen
Fertility doctors in France have announced the birth of the first baby to be born to a cancer patient from ...
35 drugs in the race for a coronavirus treatment
As the world scrambles to monitor and contain the COVID-19 outbreak, drug companies are racing to develop or repurpose treatments ...
Trouble sleeping? Your children may experience the same problems, study suggests
Researchers have long known that severe sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, are hereditary. But what about common sleep problems, ...
‘Illusion of causality’ and why we trust our own experiences more than science
Did you cut out sugar and feel more energetic, take vitamin C and stop getting colds, switch to eating only ...
Trouble dragging yourself to the gym? It could be your genes
It’s long been thought that some people find exercising easier than others. While some will happily jog off to the ...
Something’s fishy: We got arms, legs and other skeletal features from our aquatic ancestors
In his 20 years as an ichthyologist, [John Sparks has] seen a lot of fish—intact and not. He’s traveled to ...
We’re better at fighting epidemics because of advances in genetic sequencing, synthetic biology and a willingness to collaborate
It’s impossible not to draw parallels between SARS and the new coronavirus outbreak, COVID-19, that’s been ravaging China and spreading ...
Breast milk breakthrough on the horizon? Growing mammary cells to create casein and lactose
The inconvenient truth about breastfeeding is that breasts are, invariably, attached to a person. A person who could get too ...
How old is that child? ‘Epigenetic clocks’ could help fight child labor, trafficking and improve age records on immigrant children
Epigenetic clocks are a new type of biological test currently capturing the attention of the scientific community, private companies and ...
More precise cancer treatments may be possible by pairing CRISPR with genetic sequencing
In search of new ways to sequence human genomes and read critical alterations in DNA, researchers have successfully used the ...
‘Extreme difficulty’ trusting past experiences may be key factor for people with OCD, study says
Often, the human brain can overcome worries and fears by casting the mind back to past experiences that have worked ...
Why AI doctors could signal the arrival of superintelligent robots
What would alert us that superintelligence is indeed around the corner? We might call such harbingers canaries in the coal ...
‘One piece of the puzzle’: Exploring differences in medical care for black and white children with autism
Black children with autism who are hospitalized for psychiatric problems are more impaired than their white peers, according to a ...
Infographic: What the US public thinks about tinkering with human genetics
The Pew Research Center published a fascinating roundup of studies that revealed the opinions of the U.S. public on a ...
Seeking new momentum in Alzheimer’s research after decades of slow progress
5.8 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, with a new person developing the condition about every minute of every day. There is still ...
Can we prevent a synthetic DNA catastrophe—accidental or intentional—through these proposed safeguards?
New approaches to DNA editing and synthesis have made it easier to manipulate biological agents and systems, increasing the risk ...
We have 4 ways to search for alien life. Where should we focus our resources?
There are, right now, four ways to search for alien life, ranging from the most passive to the most active ...
Trends that will shape the 2020s: Psychedelics as medicine, diagnostic cell phone apps and AI prediction of disease outbreaks
Clearly, a lot can happen in a decade—but innovation has to start somewhere. Based on what’s breaking through now, here ...
Infographic: Tracking the global spread of the coronavirus through its genetic signature
Several years ago, Richard Neher, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Basel in Switzerland, and his colleagues wanted to ...
Using AI to predict life expectancy—and identify candidates for experimental trials—among glioblastoma patients
Glioblastoma is an aggressive, killer disease. While victims of this fast-moving brain tumor comprise only about 15% of all people ...
