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.
‘Beat the Chinese’: President irked as U.S. race to the moon falters
Secretary of Transportation and [acting NASA administrator Sean] Duffy said SpaceX has fallen behind in its efforts to develop the ...
Losing jobs, increasing efficiency and profitability: Amazon jumps rivals in embracing warehouse robots
Artificial intelligence that makes humans more efficient and robots that make them less necessary: That’s the future Amazon is building in its ...
Texas escalates legal attacks against Tylenol maker, asks judge to stop advertising (accurately) that the pain killer is safe
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has asked a federal judge to issue a restraining order against the makers of Tylenol ...
‘Defective and inherently dangerous’: ChatGPT facing multiple wrongful death and mental health breakdown lawsuits
Four wrongful death lawsuits were filed against OpenAI ..., as well as cases from three people who say the company’s ...
One shot to lower risk of heart attacks? Early-stage CRISPR therapy safely cut “bad” cholesterol and triglycerides by more than 50% patients
In a 15-patient, Phase 1 one, first-in-human trial, a one-time, CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing therapy safely reduced LDL cholesterol and triglycerides in ...
DNA pioneer James Watson’s remarkable—and controversial—career
Discovering the structure of ... DNA was a breakthrough that would help open the way to a revolution in medicine, ...
Viewpoint: No, we should not follow RFK, Jr.’s recommendation and quickly phase out biomedical research animal testing
In recent months, the Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health have announced new initiatives to reduce and replace animal ...
The public health establishment takes on the insurrectionist MAHA movement and searches for common ground
Dr. Georges Benjamin has seen many infectious disease outbreaks and bioterrorism threats in the near-25 years he's led the American ...
Would humans re-evolve if we went extinct?
To recreate an extinct species exactly, evolution would have to reproduce not just its traits but its entire genetic code ...
‘The science is almost non-existent’: Latest longevity fad: N.A.D. supplements. Here’s an explainer
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or N.A.D.+, is a molecule found in all cells that’s essential for repairing damage, generating energy and ...
Viewpoint: Beware the cancer quacks: Here’s why ‘functional-medicine-doctor-practicing-without-a-license’ Casey Means is a disaster choice for surgeon general
It appears that our next U.S. Surgeon General will be Casey Means, who labels herself a “functional medicine” doctor. Or ...
Curing Alzheimer’s: Unwinding mystery of the 76-year-old man with a disease that (until now) always caused dementia by 50
Mr. Whitney, 76, is a scientific unicorn with potential to provide answers about one of the world’s most devastating diseases ...
Miracle mineral? Magnesium is the hottest-selling supplement. Does it work? Can it be dangerous?
In the fast-moving world of supplements, it's magnesium's time to shine. And the industry is booming. The global magnesium market ...
Viewpoint: The science behind seasonal affective disorder
Although seasonal affective disorder (Sad) was only formally recognised by psychiatrists in the 1980s, the link between the seasons, mood ...
Should women heed RFK, Jr.’s warning that COVID shots can harm children of pregnant women? New study says ‘no’
A new study suggests that children of mothers who had COVID-19 during pregnancy are at 29% higher risk of neurodevelopmental ...
DNA analysis used to decipher fossilized Neanderthal remains okayed for genetic analysis of alleged serial murderer
A judge in New York rejected a request on 23 September to disqualify the use of cutting-edge DNA sequencing as ...
The resurrection of the dire wolf is phony, but Colossal Biosciences’ de-extinction research could revolutionize drug development and healthcare
Similar to the way NASA’s effort to launch humans into space once triggered a frenzy of technological advances in areas ...
Viewpoint: So-called green energy policy that rejects carbon-free nuclear power leads to rising electricity rates
Electricity prices are rising, and Democrats are making it a campaign issue. They blame the price hike on President Trump ...
Viewpoint: Tort lawyer RFK, Jr. — Trump alliance trashing Tylenol opens the door to a flood of dubious lawsuits
A lawsuit Texas filed ... against the makers of Tylenol foreshadows a wave of legal warfare enabled by the Trump ...
Power gambit: Some women embrace bald look as a new symbol of power and beauty
Sensuous, self-assured and glamorous are not the adjectives typically assigned to women with shorn hair. For centuries, many cultures have viewed long ...
Preserved poop offers a window into the health and life of ancient humans
Feces is an open window into the many other organisms living in our bodies—from beneficial bacteria to harmful parasites. The genetic material ...
How much sleep do we really need?
[Sleep] is more than a luxury or idle downtime, it’s a vital biological process that supports nearly every system in ...
Republican Texas Supreme Court unanimously rules judges can refuse to perform same sex marriages
Texas judges who decline to perform a wedding ceremony based on a “sincerely held religious belief” do not violate the ...
‘Not sufficient evidence’: RFK, Jr. now rejects his claim that Tylenol is linked to autism, one day after Texas claimed it in a lawsuit
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said October 29 that he does not have “sufficient” evidence to link Tylenol to ...
Resurrecting Neanderthals: The scientific challenge and ethical debate
When scientists sequenced the Neanderthal genome in 2010, they learned that Neanderthals interbred with human ancestors before mysteriously going extinct. This genetic breakthrough yielded ...
Viewpoint: The biggest winners of RFK, Jr.’s junk science push
Two advisers to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sat on a stage in California this ...
‘‘It could determine the future of the world’: Putin morphs from ethical opponent of gene editing humans to support for creating CRISPR-edited soldiers “without fear, without compassion, without regret or even pain.” It could happen soon
While known experiments with Crispr—to improve crops, modify malaria-carrying mosquitoes, treat cancer—are constantly expanding, no government has approved wielding the tool to ...
