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.
People with better memories may have better romantic relationships, study suggests
Common topics of marital disagreement are money, sex and time spent together. None of this will surprise anyone who has ...
‘Science doesn’t align with folk beliefs’: Study refutes idea that girls don’t have minds for math
There is a widespread, not always tacit assumption that a biological gender divide in aptitude for mathematics may underpin why ...
Extraterrestrial babies? Scientists want to know how microgravity would affect human reproduction
The plane’s rapid descent created a microgravity environment in the cockpit and for a few seconds, [pilot Daniel] González felt ...
‘Super rare’ mutation protected Colombian woman from Alzheimer’s disease
Most of the time when we think about genetic mutations, we think about the ones that spell disaster. But sometimes, ...
These gene-edited pigs could eliminate shortage of human organ transplants
It’s what’s inside this animal that matters. Her body has been made a little less pig-like, with four genetic modifications ...
CRISPR got an upgrade. ‘Prime editing’ offers more accurate ‘search-and-replace’
All right, let’s do this one last time. My name is CRISPR. I was made from a bacterial defense system, and ...
Deep sleep may be critical to flushing out your brain’s ‘toxic waste’
Why sleep has restorative—or damaging—effects on cognition and brain health has been an enduring mystery in biology. Researchers think cerebrospinal ...
Neural stem cell transplants show promise for treating stroke, Parkinson’s, spinal injuries
Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease is a genetic malady that leaves neurons without their myelin coating. This deficit has devastating consequences for the ...
Rejuvenate Bio’s gene therapy shows promise at reversing aging—in mice
Harvard synthetic biology pioneer George Church generated some buzz last year when he co-founded Rejuvenate Bio with the goal of ...
Chinese scientists may have figured out how to attack the protein created by Huntington’s damaged gene
Huntington's disease is caused by a dominant mutation, meaning that anyone who inherits it will develop the disease. ... Despite ...
Chicxulub asteroid impact sparked mammal growth surge, fossil ‘trove’ shows
After an asteroid crashed into what is now Chicxulub, Mexico 66 million years ago, a chain of events occurred that ...
9 significant archaeological discoveries of the past decade, including a Neanderthal-Denisovan hybrid
Here’s a look back at some of the most significant archaeological and anthropological discoveries of the past decade that fundamentally ...
Potential problem with lab-grown mini-brains: They’re ‘stressed-out and confused’
Brain cells grown into clumps in flasks are totally stressed-out and confused. Cells in these clumps have ambiguous identities and ...
Blood test for autism? Discovery of ‘distinctive pattern’ in white cells may make it possible
Researchers have identified a distinctive pattern of gene expression in the white blood cells of young autistic boys. The discovery ...
‘Scientific fight of the century’: Two theories of consciousness are going head-to-head
Here’s something you don’t hear every day: two theories of consciousness are about to face off in the scientific fight ...
Why the genetic database GEDmatch represents a ‘security risk’ for the US
A private DNA ancestry database that’s been used by police to catch criminals is a security risk from which a ...
‘BrainNet’ experiment allows people to communicate by thought, ‘blurring fundamental notions about individual identity’
In a new study, technology replaces language as a means of communicating by directly linking the activity of human brains. Electrical ...
Extra copies of Denisovan, Neanderthal DNA helped humans adapt to ancient environments
University of Washington geneticist PingHsun Hsieh and his colleagues found Neanderthal and Denisovan versions of some genes in the genomes ...
Humans originated in Botswana? New research challenged for using ‘weak and inconclusive genetic analysis’
A new paper claiming that modern humans originated in northern Botswana some 200,000 years ago is being criticized by experts, ...
Video: Futurist Jamie Metzl explores ‘Augmented Humanity’ and why it would be ‘insane’ not to embrace gene editing, other new technologies
There's something that feels a little scary about augmented humans and it's because we've seen all these films of these ...
Does marijuana help with depression and anxiety? This study finds scant evidence to support growing claims
A major study has found little evidence that cannabis helps with depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions, despite growing ...
Brain organoids may have ‘critical’ research limitation: Imperfect modeling of human development
Despite their potential, [brain] organoids still have some critical limitations. In a study presented [October 22] at the Society for Neuroscience meeting ...
Can CBD treat autism, epilepsy? Growing body of evidence suggests it may be possible
A single dose of cannabidiol, a component of marijuana, eases seizures and improves learning and sociability in mice with mutations ...
Viewpoint: ‘Long-promised AI revolution’ in healthcare delayed by shortcomings, including systems that are easily misled
Today, hundreds of startup companies around the world are trying to apply deep learning to radiology. Yet the number of radiologists who ...
Create a fetus without an egg or sperm? Researchers have done it with mice
Reproduction used to be a simple thing: two parents, one egg, one sperm, one embryo, one baby. But on [October ...
ISIS leader al-Baghdadi’s remains may have been identified with new rapid DNA testing technology
On Sunday (October 27), President Donald Trump announced that US Special Operations forces had cornered Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the current ...
Humans ‘are not so special after all’: Neanderthals also knew how to start fires, evidence suggests
At some point, our ancestors harnessed the power of the flame to keep warm, cook food, produce new materials, shoo ...
