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.
Biology of politics: Brain scans can identify your political beliefs?
A new study has entered the debate on whether our political beliefs are acquired through logic and reasoning, or if they ...
Genetic “hall of mirrors” with large palindromes, yet smaller: What’s mighty about the mouse
Human Y has been described as a genetic "hall of mirrors" riddled with several regions of large palindromes. Believe it ...
Genetically modified clean energy from bacteria
Bacteria and other biological organisms can be genetically modified to produce larger amounts of fuel for renewable energy ...
Designer babies: You can screen for cystic fibrosis but intelligence is a ways off
Using a technique called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, it’s possible to screen embryos for disease and sex before they are implanted ...
More than 100 genes newly implicated in autism
Scientists have identified more than 100 genes that appear to play a part in causing autism. Two new studies, the ...
Hardship during pregnancy has long-lasting effects on child
A lot can happen to a woman during pregnancy that impact the child prenatally, and these residual effects may persist long after ...
Lab-grown miniature organs pave way for research on stomach disease
For the first time, scientists have made lab-grown stomachs in a petri dish. The feat was accomplished at the Cincinnati ...
Spontaneous mutations and the genetic mysteries of autism
At least 30% of all autism cases is caused by spontaneous, or de novo, mutations. Lends new weight to hypothesis ...
Infectious Disease: Enterovirus D68 gets its genome sequenced
researchers have sequenced the genome of enterovirus D68, a deadly respiratory illness that has impacted 1,100 people in the US ...
Computing with DNA
DNA is exceptionally information dense. In nature it is used to encode the instructions for making living organisms, but people ...
Receptor for DEET that repels mosquitoes discovered
More than 200 million people worldwide use DEET, developed by scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and patented by ...
Genetic technologies offer long and short term views of Ebola dangers
High yield genetic sequencers, cell phones and paper-based diagnostics are all being employed to develop a cohesive picture of the ...
Mars bars for brain health? Not so fast
A widely publicized study showed that a component in chocolate may have protective anti-aging effects for the brain. But based ...
In biotech, no one is afraid of the big, bad wolf (spider)
Spiders are friends and understanding the natural world can help us achieve advances in areas like biotechnology, human health and ...
Stop the ‘flying syringe’: Landscape genetics track Asian tiger mosquitoes
The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) is native to Southeast Asia, is an alarming vector for human disease like dengue, chikungunya and ...
MAOA and CDH13 genes linked to violent crime, but can they explain criminal behavior?
A study published in Molecular Psychiatry has found a link between two specific genes and a person's propensity to commit a ...
DNA-based electrical circuits might serve as basis for computers, detect genetic disorders
A new technology may soon be born at the intersection of genetics and computer science. An international team of scientists ...
Chimps’ feeding behavior reveals evolutionary history of intellectual development
Food reveals a lot about species' evolutionary past. Organisms are constantly adapting in response to what kind and how much ...
When you take your drugs might matter as much as what you’re taking
Circadian clock genes help align our bodies with our planet's 24 hour light-dark cycle. Misalignment of circadian rhythms has been ...
Organic activists reject science, propose ‘natural’ Ebola cure, claim government conspiracy
As often happens in times of medical crises, fringe groups come out from hiding--in this instance, organic activists in the ...
Does no-till agriculture boost global crop yields?
No-till farming is considered a key conservation agriculture strategy because it avoids conventional plowing and farming practices. It has been ...
Hydrocooling helps sweet cherries survive the long haul
People like their sweet cherries sweet but getting them from place to place in the modern world isn't without challenges ...
College student alert: Beer improves cognitive function
Flavonoids are versatile plant metabolites found in many plants - including hops, and therefore beer. A new study in Behavioral Brain Research found ...
Nutrigenomics could lead personalized medicine revolution
"Nutrigenomics has the potential to be the next big thing in our fight against lifestyle-linked diseases, says Professor Lynn Frewer, Professor ...
‘Hobbit species’ continues to provoke questions about course of human evolution
In 2003, researchers excavating a limestone cave on the remote Indonesian island of Flores made an extraordinary discovery: the 18,000-year-old ...
How scientists investigate the brain’s internal navigation system
“Can you point to Center City?” neuroscientist Russell Epstein likes to ask visitors to his office at the University of ...
Bioethics consulting services provide valuable oversight for researchers
When scientists run into ethical dilemmas in their research, they typically turn to institutional review boards (IRBs) for advice. Increasingly, ...
