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.
The brain scans its surroundings in a steady rhythm and only turns off during deep sleep
The brain is not only concerned with where we are right now. It also explores places we haven't been yet ...
Viewpoint: Fact checking controversial eight claims by Dr. Oz — Health science often left behind
Over 13 seasons of “The Dr. Oz Show,” from 2009 to 2022, [Mehmet Oz] told viewers what to eat, how ...
Honing in on the difference between chronological and biological age
Medical researchers in Chicago are studying the difference between a person's chronological age — how many years they've lived — ...
‘Biological rewind button’: Eye treatment on the horizon that some scientists believe literally turns back the clock on age-related health conditions
Later this year, a handful of people with a rare eye condition will receive a novel injection that is designed ...
Humans probably did not domesticate wolves into dogs—canines did it themselves
Scientists don't know exactly how wolves were domesticated into early dogs, but it's possible that they domesticated themselves by choosing to ...
Viewpoint: Here’s why almost all sports supplements are a risky scam
Supplements are not benign. We think they are, but they aren’t. Some promise to boost muscle mass or improve sports ...
Viewpont: MACA—Make America Contagious Again. As the COVID pandemic turns 5, with Trump and RFK, Jr.’s health team in place, we’re less prepared for a crisis than ever before
What should we be doing that we’re not? First, we should be making investments, not cuts, in pandemic preparedness. The ...
An aspirin a day keeps the doctor away? No, that won’t limit strokes and could very well lead to stomach, intestinal and brain bleeding
Many people still believe the benefits of taking an aspirin every day to prevent heart attacks and strokes outweigh the ...
Viewpoint: RFK, Jr. peddles fringe theories to explain away measles outbreak and, again, falsely links vaccines to autism
[Robert F. Kennedy [Jr.] offered conflicting public health messages as he tried to reconcile the government’s longstanding endorsement of vaccines ...
Center for Science in the Public Interest: Here’s why you should not waste your money on cold- and flu-fighting supplements
In one study, researchers bought and analyzed 30 supplements that were being marketed on Amazon for immune health. According to the ...
The dangerous allure of immortality: Why death is critical to live a fulfilling life
Most of the longevity movement is not really about immortality but rather about extending life and limiting the damaging effects ...
RFK, Jr.’s NIH blocks funding of all research into vaccine hesitancy and is poised to withdraw support of mRNA vaccines
The Trump administration is slashing long-standing areas of research funded by the National Institutes of Health, claiming they no longer ...
No, more and more people are not living past 100
The allure of extreme longevity has beckoned for centuries. Research careers and marketing campaigns have been built on the idea ...
Women really do live longer — here’s why
Women outlive men, by something of a long shot: In the United States, women have a life expectancy of about 80, compared ...
Viewpoint: University of California-Berkeley administration did nothing when radical feminist group excused the raping and mutilating of Israeli women
[S]tudents [at the University of California-Berkeley] ... are in a required comparative-literature class that mandates they attend [a lecture entitled] ...
Cancer rates are falling around the world, especially for men—except for among younger people. Here is the best guess as to why
[R]esearchers have found that young people around the world are getting many different kinds of cancer at alarmingly high rates...Why ...
Dating apps are flukey. Can AI help save them from oblivion, or will it lead to their demise?
Late last year, Hinge CEO Justin McLeod promised the app would soon be using the tech for everything from making ...
‘Impressive’ and ‘humbling’: Whale language skills equal and even surpass human speech capabilities in some ways
Two new studies have found eerily human-like sophistication in whale songs, challenging notions about our exceptionality and potentially shedding light ...
You’re over a cold but a cough lingers for weeks on end? Here’s why
Have you kicked a cold, bout of flu, RSV, or COVID recently—but can’t get rid of the cough? You’re not ...
No, rhino horns are not an aphrodisiac: Dangerous delusions of ‘traditional Chinese medicine’
I recently attended a showing of Oscar-nominated short films. Most were riveting, but none more so than 'The Last Ranger,' ...
Trump-Kennedy NIH shutting down 40+ grants investigating vaccine hesitancy
The National Institutes of Health will cancel or cut back dozens of grants for research on why some people are reluctant ...
Viewpoint: Facing a mega-threat from China, America’s approach to regulating AI is ‘mostly nonsense’
China’s tech industry recently gave the U.S. tech industry — and along with it, the stock market — a rude ...
From claims that Jews kill children to make matzo to accusations that Haitian immigrants are devouring pets, blood libel is a nightmare that never ends
One of the oldest and most widespread versions of [incendiary storytelling] is about Jews, especially how they kill Christian children ...
Viewpoint: US biotechnology innovation efforts dim with biomanufacturing a key laggard
The United States has been the undisputed innovator and leader in biology and biotechnology. Molecular biology and genetic engineering were ...
Humans are in the crosshairs of a potential bird flu pandemic. In the age of RFK, Jr., are we prepared?
Scientists are increasingly concerned about a potential bird flu pandemic. The question is, given all the enduring uncertainty around the ...
Viewpoint: Saving the world by having more babies? Time to shut down Peter Thiel’s delusionary wealthy couple
On Tuesday, the Washington Post’s Style section published a profile of Simone and Malcolm Collins, a Pennsylvanian couple who’ve been ...
Turning back the aging clock: Billions of dollars are probably being wasted on genetic manipulation techniques that likely won’t work
A new study from a team of biologists and epidemiologists at UC San Diego is calling into question [the] core ...
