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.
Genes may influence how much we like exercise
It’s possible that some of us are born not to run. According to an eye-opening new genetics study of lab ...
Schizophrenics age faster, genetics play a roll
For decades, evidence has suggested that people with schizophrenia have shortened lifespans. In the early twentieth century, doctors observed that ...
Breastfeeding mother prosecuted for child’s death from genetic disorder
On Thursday last week, a South Carolina jury convicted Stephanie Greene, a 39-year old nurse, of killing her six-week-old daughter ...
MRSA’s genetics affect how toxic it will be
The spread of the antibiotic-resistant pathogen MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) remains a concerning public health problem, especially among doctors trying ...
Teamwork and genetics uncover extremely rare diseases and patients who share them
In February 2013, Stanford geneticist Gregory Enns called the Wilsey family with news: He was "99 percent sure" that doctors ...
Insurance and genetics: Primed for discrimination
It's currently illegal in the United States for employers and health insurance companies to discriminate based on genetic information, thanks ...
NIH’s Stem Cell program mysteriously shut down, only one study funded
Stem-cell researchers at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been left frustrated and confused following the demise of ...
Greener paper through genetically engineered trees
Genetically engineered trees are easier to process into pulp, making tree farming less resource-intensive. The same techniques could be adapted ...
Call to end anonymous egg and sperm donation points to lack of fertility industry regulation
A renewed call to end the anonymity of egg and sperm donors hopes to provide donor-conceived kids with important health ...
Neanderthals and humans interbred longer than previously thought
Europeans may be closer to their Neanderthal cousins than was previously thought. Breeding with now-extinct Neanderthals is known to have ...
Promise of stem cells draws patients to un-licensed doctors with sometimes fatal effect
“If the doctor of a former president gave you the assurance that your daughter will be cured of cancer after ...
Put things off until tomorrow? Blame your genes
A study by researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder has found that a tendency to procrastinate is affected ...
What is direct to consumer genetic testing actually worth?
Cyrus Farivar uses several direct to consumer genetic testing companies to explore his health risks, specifically for Alzheimer's disease. In ...
Evolution of E.coli’s most virulent strain happened since 2000
Scientists have come closer to understanding how a clone of E. coli, described as the most important of its kind ...
Parkinson’s researchers look for genetic connection to Ashkenazi Jews
The second part of a study of Ashkenazi Jews who carry the LRRK2 gene, the most common genetic contributor to ...
Two sides to knowing your genetic risk for disease
Dr Sharon Moalem recently diagnosed a mother with a rare type of hereditary ataxia, a neurological disorder for which there ...
Severe childhood stress ages chromosomes decades
Children growing up in severely disadvantaged circumstances can experience drastic chromosome ageing. By the time they are 9 years old ...
Fear of insurance, employment loophole may keep some from sequencing their genomes
About 700,000 Americans have had their DNA sequenced, in full or in part, and the number is rising rapidly as ...
Genes for enjoying speed protective against ADHD and schizophrenia
A euphoric response to amphetamine could signal the presence of gene variants associated with protection against attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) ...
DNA nanorobots deliver medicine inside cockroaches, act like a computer
"It's a computer -- inside a cockroach." So writes Sarah Spickernell in a fascinating account at New Scientist of DNA-based ...
Gut bacteria determines colon cancer progression
Colorectal cancer develops in what is probably the most complex environment in the human body, a place where human cells ...
Department of Defense makes new push into biotech
The U.S. Department of Defense’s research arm is making a concerted grasp at biotechnology. On 1 April, the Defense Advanced ...
3D model of malaria genome to help understand how disease works
For the first time, scientists have generated a 3D model of the human malaria parasite genome at three different stages ...
4 billionth acre of biotech crops about to be planted
Fourth-generation family farmer muses on the soon-to-be-planted four billionth acre of biotech crops at Truth About Trade & Technology. What ...
To reduce false positives, PLOS asks scientists for extra info in gene association studies
The Public Library of Science will now require scientists who want to publish genetic association studies in the journal to ...
New gene implicated in most common, most deadly child brain cancer
Genetic mutations found in brain tumours in children have opened up intriguing avenues to tackle this lethal form of cancer, ...
‘Junk’ DNA getting more and more important
DNA is the molecule that encodes the genetic instructions enabling a cell to produce the thousands of proteins it typically ...
