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.
Efforts to cure rare genetic diseases target people who conquered them
Biologist Stephen Friend is president and co-founder of the nonprofit research organization Sage Bionetworks in Seattle, and co-director of the ...
Five new genetic markers for pancreatic cancer identified
After comparing the DNA of thousands of people with and without the disease, a new study has identified five genetic ...
10,000 hours of practice leads to mastery? That’s not what our genes say.
Talent, as encoded in our genes, may mean more than practice when it comes to mastery. Identical twins who practiced ...
Gene responsible for echolocation identified in dolphins and bats
Echolocation is used by both bats and dolphins, allowing them to navigate the world with the use of sound. Now, ...
Genome sequencing on way to clinical use in treating cancer
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) not only continues to make steady advances in the molecular diagnosis of cancers, it also seems to fit ...
Turing description of interacting molecules explains how fingers and toes form
Your arms and toes began as tiny buds that sprouted from your sides when you were just a four-week-old embryo ...
Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, alcoholism may have common genetic link
A rare gene variant discovered by UCL scientists is associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and ...
Lower testosterone correlates with evolution of early human culture
Modern humans appear in the fossil record about 200,000 years ago, but it was only about 50,000 years ago that ...
Harmful GMO insulin meme illustrates how ‘deadly’ anti-GMO movement can be
What happens when a tabloid-respect-for-the-truth meets a life-saving breakthrough in medical technology? You’d get something like this: Chances are you ...
Some kids un-develop autism. Could their genes be responsible?
Scientists are focusing attention on a group of autistic children who improve so much they essentially outgrow the diagnosis. Although ...
Video: How CRISPR gene editing technology came to dominate genetic engineering
The basic components of CRISPR-Cas gene editing were only discovered 15 years ago, but the technology has moved quickly to ...
When individual has multiple genomes, genetic tests get complicated
When Meriel M. McEntagart, a geneticist at St. George’s University of London, met the family in May 2012, she suspected ...
FDA to regulate genetic diagnostic tests, will affect cancer testing
The Food and Drug Administration unveiled plans to regulate thousands of diagnostic tests, including many coming from the exploding field ...
Stem cell research sheds light on weakening of aging immune system
There's a good reason people over 60 are not donor candidates for bone marrow transplantation. The immune system ages and ...
Addressing ethical questions in pregnancy, genetic disease and baby traits
When Kira Walker was born, on June 13, 2013, her parents and doctors knew she might have health issues. Her ...
Reproducing evolutionary changes with teeth
To study evolutionary morphings, scientists often look at teeth, which are well preserved and thus well represented in the fossil ...
How DNA withstands UV radiation
In the same week that the U.S. surgeon general issued a 101-page report about the dangers of skin cancer, researchers ...
Y chromosome here to stay; ‘Death of Men’ has been greatly exaggerated
Over the last year, some headlines have claimed that the Y chromosome -- a genetic wasteland which is until recently ...
Looking for a few DNA needles in a million haystacks in the hunt for disease cures
The Resilience Project wants to find people with genes that should cause extremely rare diseases, but who never developed the ...
Neurology of obesity differs depending on genes
People who have the most common genetic mutation linked to obesity respond differently to pictures of appetizing foods than overweight ...
Over-active immune proteins possible links between depression and dementia
The link between depression and dementia is puzzling for researchers. Many studies have noticed a correlation between the two diseases ...
Athletes and gay men: Behavioral genetics reveals puzzle pieces, not prophecy
Every day we are told of a new link between our genes and behavior, from sports to sexuality. How should ...
Blood test for cancer may lead to improved strategies for treatment
In 2012, Charles Swanton was forced to confront one of cancer's dirtiest tricks. When he and his team at the ...
Genes linked to breast cancer in East Asian women identified
A genome-wide association study among East Asian women has allowed scientists to identify three new genetic loci (regions) linked to ...
Tuskegee anniversary, bioethics then and now
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was an infamous clinical study that began in 1932, conducted by the Public Health Service at the Tuskegee ...
Gene linked to suicide may predict risk, spark pre-emptive treatment
A gene tied to negative thoughts and impulses may lead to a blood test predicting suicide risk, according to researchers ...
Talking about genetic disorders: How much information do we need—or want?
It may be easy to dismiss appeals to scientific literacy as high-minded, idealistic and impractical; but geneticist Morgan Thompson believes ...
