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.
Finding where ‘consciousness resides in the human brain’ could help us awaken comatose patients
Some people may gradually come out of a coma or wake up after a few weeks.... To help these people, ...
Exploring the uneasy relationship between Charles Darwin and his skeptical publisher
Charles Darwin’s ideas about evolution shook up Britain’s Victorian establishment upon the release of On the Origin of Species, the 1859 ...
‘The technology is already here’: Implants could eliminate regular health checkups
Imagine it's the year 2040 and you're due for your regular health checkup. Time to schedule your next colonoscopy, Pap ...
Viewpoint: Biologist Jerry Coyne challenges view that sex is ‘a spectrum, not a binary’—such claims ‘undermine public trust in science’
As a biologist, I get especially irked at the repeated claim that sex in humans is “a spectrum, not a ...
This robotic face will wince if you hit it. How does it process pain?
Sensors embedded in soft, artificial skin that can detect both a gentle touch and a painful thump have been hooked ...
When a consumer genetics test pushes your ‘right to know’ against someone else’s ‘right to privacy’
Stephen Wald took a home DNA test in 2018, hoping to explore his family ancestry with his two young children ...
Why it’s unlikely that humans gained the ability to speak through a single gene mutation
One of the most controversial hypotheses for the origin of the human language faculty is the evolutionary conjecture that language ...
Fossilized eggs suggest that dinosaurs were ‘decisively’ warm-blooded
The mysteries surrounding dinosaurs have fascinated generations of scholars and lay people alike. A group of Israeli scientists, led by ...
Dreaming of hypoallergenic cats and how CRISPR could ‘come to the rescue’
Given that just two genes are responsible for making cats a problem for many people, it seemed like a no-brainer ...
Moderate drinking won’t shrink your brain, but people with smaller brains do drink ‘slightly’ more
Alcohol is one of the most widely used and abused drugs on the planet. It’s important for us to understand how it is, or ...
Video: Look inside Siberia’s Denisova cave, where researchers discovered bones of our mysterious relatives
The Denisovans are named after Denisova Cave in Siberia. Until 2019, it was the only place where archaeologists found bones ...
Viewpoint: ‘Hunches’ can’t be used to decide the fate of ‘covertly conscious’ patients in vegetative states
[A]s many as 15% to 20% of patients who have been rigorously diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state ...
‘It makes me feel more connected to the human race’: Epilepsy patients donate live brain tissue for research
Though Genette Hofmann is still using her brain, last month she donated a bit of it — to science. Hofmann ...
Evidence mounts that marijuana smokers more vulnerable to false memories
Cannabis not only induces forgetfulness, it also opens the door for false memories, according to new research. And that’s serious, ...
Congenital blindness appears to offer protection against schizophrenia. Researchers trying to figure out why.
No person who was born blind has ever been diagnosed with schizophrenia. … This is especially surprising, since congenital blindness ...
Viewpoint: To protect genetic privacy, it’s ‘crucial’ that we develop an international code of conduct
Genomics researchers worldwide are increasingly dealing with vast data sets gathered by consortia spanning many countries. Most are unclear on ...
Why virtual reality is a ‘far from perfect’ tool for studying how the brain works
Virtual Reality (VR) is not just for video games. Researchers use it in studies of brains from all kinds of ...
Viewpoint: Challenging those who claim evolution is ‘just a theory’
Such widespread rejection of the theory of evolution is fueled in part by the notion that evolution is “just a ...
Viewpoint: Don’t expect genetic matchmaking to help you find your Valentine
Genetic matchmaking is entering the mainstream. The prospect of meeting and selecting potential romantic partners based upon purported DNA compatibility ...
Infographic: What suicidal behavior looks like in the brain
Scientists have identified several key neurobiological pathways with ties to suicidal behaviors. Research in the field addresses only a fraction ...
Viewpoint: Artificial intelligence ‘without guard rails’ is growing global threat
Technology is bestowing wonderful opportunities and benefits to the world, but the acceleration of development, and lack of global regulatory ...
Humans are ‘biologically built’ to seek out friends
We humans are biologically built to seek friends, and we can see suggestions of our evolutionary past in the social ...
These women are missing the ‘scent region’ of the brain. How do they still smell?
When Tali Weiss and her colleagues at the Weizmann Institute of Science found a patient that had an otherwise normal ...
Why do humans have tailbones?
Though it’s currently useless, the human coccyx—commonly referred to as the tailbone—remains nestled at the bottom of the spine, a ...
Genetic mutations may provide natural defense against Alzheimer’s
A set of genetic mutations may protect against Alzheimer’s, research suggests. The memory-robbing disease is poorly understood, with few known ...
3 modern adaptations that prove humans are still evolving
Genetic mutations lead to new traits — and with the world population now above 7 billion and rising, the chances ...
Immunotherapy breakthrough? CRISPR-edited immune cells proven safe for use in cancer patients in early stage trial
Now for the first time in the U.S., researchers say they’ve shown that CRISPR-edited immune cells can be safely given ...
