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.
A.L. 288-1, better known as Lucy, was unearthed 50 years ago. Here is how a pile of bones reshaped our knowledge of human evolution
In 1974, researchers unearthed fossil AL 288-1, more commonly known as “Lucy”, in a 3.2-million-year-old deposit in the Hadar region of ...
Meet Daisy: The AI grandmother who is fighting back against scammers
AI-generated UK grandmother named “Daisy” is [making] scammers’ jobs a bit more tedious.... Using ChatGPT-like large language models, Daisy will ...
Born athletes? Identical twin studies show the balance of genetics vs training
[A] new study finds that, of all fitness domains, flexibility is the one most determined by your genes. The study, ...
The queasy possibility that humans and AI could ‘evolve’ in tandem
For the sake of engaging in a wholehearted discussion, assume that AI is evolving.... We then have these two ideas ...
Clinical trials involving animals can have a 99.6% failure rate in some instances sparking researchers to find alternatives
Animal-based studies have contributed to important findings and lifesaving medical advancements. The COVID-19 vaccines, for instance, were developed in animals, ...
Does eating ultra-processed foods speed up aging?
Ultra-processed foods have been associated with poor nutritional quality and potential health risks. Now, a new study suggests that high ...
Viewpoint: Overhauling the teaching of genetics is necessary to eliminate the concept of race
On a lengthy bus ride in the early 1970s, University of Chicago geneticist Richard Lewontin passed the time by doing some novel math ...
If humanity goes extinct, this is the likeliest creature to ascend and become the next civilization builder
Professor Tim Coulson, a leading zoologist and biologist at the University of Oxford, suggested that octopuses could evolve into the ...
Will 23andMe survive after the ancestral data leak fiasco?
The genetic testing firm 23andMe said on Monday it would cut about 40%, or 200 employees, from its workforce and ...
In rare cases, coming down with COVID-19 could save your life
Viruses don’t often come with silver linings, and infections don’t generally lead to positive health effects. But during the pandemic, ...
25% reduction: People genetically prone to breast cancer, diabetes and other diseases would benefit from gene screening
A simple genetic screening test has the potential to stop almost a quarter of premature preventable deaths from common diseases ...
Pong addict? You should take a shot at playing a human created lifeless blob—that gets better over time
Inspired by recent advancements in brain organoid systems, researchers have designed a simple hydrogel-electrode array that not only can “play” Pong, but ...
Should women who use hormonal IUDs be concerned about developing cancer?
A new Danish study shows that women who use hormonal IUDs may have a higher risk of developing breast cancer, ...
Why are women more likely to get long-Covid than men?
Long COVID can cause substantial economic loss and missed days of work, and it can strike women more often than ...
Just in case: If humans near extinction, a 5-D ‘memory crystal’ might revive us
Researchers have encoded the entire human genome onto a “5D memory crystal” in the off chance our species finds itself ...
‘I feel like it’s a little bit of health marketing bullshit’: Exosomes might not help you stay young but they might have other science benefits
Any cell biologist ... will tell you what exosomes really are: tiny little blobs that bud off from cells and ...
Colorado Governor Jared Polis shocks health officials, endorses DJT’s pick of RFK, Jr. as Health and Human Services director
The Democratic governor said he was “excited” by Trump’s nomination, despite Polis touting the day before the creation of the Governors ...
Obesity rates in America are plateauing but skepticism remains that it is a sustainable trend
According to the CDC, as of August 2023, 40.3 percent of U.S. adults—some 100 million people—met the clinical definition for ...
Viewpoint: Ideological anti-race scientist claims ‘American tech money is fueling a resurgence or ‘race science’
“Civilisation is going to pieces … if we don’t look out the white race will be – will be utterly ...
Inside the ‘minds’ of AI companions: Uncensored programs bring mimic human-like conversations
In September, OpenAI unveiled an ambitious new language model capable of working through challenging problems with a simulated kind of ...
Addiction: Yet another health problem Ozempic and other weight loss drugs might help address
[Dr. Steven Klein is an] addiction medicine fellow at the nonprofit Caron Treatment Centers’ residential treatment facility in Pennsylvania. He ...
A scientist’s brainy trip: How psilocybin creates an extraordinary new sense of space, time and self
In the name of science, Dr. Nico Dosenbach had scanned his own brain dozens of times. But this was the first time ...
Running and longevity: Sub-four-minute milers increase their lifespan by up to 9 years
In the mid-20th century, breaking the four-minute mile was considered an insurmountable feat. Then came Roger Bannister in 1954, who ...
Plasma exchange: What is the skinny on the suddenly-hot longevity therapy for the aging wealthy
A medical treatment used for health emergencies and autoimmune disorders is becoming the hot new wellness trend for CEOs, athletes, ...
Why we need a moonshot project for a universal flu vaccine
H5N1 bird flu is here. It’s moving from animals to people in ways not seen before. It’s spreading to new ...
‘Intelligence in a dish’: ‘Brain organoids’ grown on petri dishes show signs of developing eyes
The proto-eyes are what really disturbed me. For the past decade, medical researchers have been growing living, miniature replicas of ...
Liminal space: The brief moments between wake to sleep where your brain exists in the ‘twilight zone’
Each night as you lay down to sleep, you embark on an extraordinary journey – not through space, but through ...
