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.
Building a better baby
In 2014, BGI, a Chinese company, is hoping that it will soon be able to offer parents a similar option—choosing ...
Direct-to-consumer genetic testing just not ready for prime time
Stories keep coming in from people who signed up for genetic testing and received strange, conflicting, or just plain wrong ...
Dog DNA test can be full of surprises
In 2005, the Dog Genome Project was mapped out, making it possible to see the differences in the DNA of ...
FBI review of national database finds errors in DNA profiles
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, in a review of a national DNA database, has identified nearly 170 profiles that probably ...
Cancer cells with doubled genomes more deadly
Cancer Research UK scientists have shown that accidental DNA doubling in bowel cancer cells could predict which patients have potentially ...
Is 2014 the year of the thousand-dollar genome?
For this “TechKnow,” our contributors were given the option to test their genetics through a mail-order DNA kit from personal ...
Epigenetics involved in cocaine addiction
Scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai say they have identified a new molecular mechanism by which ...
Overclocking your brain? Be careful
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) head-sets send electrical currents straight through your skull and into your brain, but do they ...
More children of sperm donors seek identify of their genetic fathers
John Robbart, a 23-year-old from San Diego, Calif., has known he was conceived using a sperm donor for as long ...
Extinguishing the memory of fear, with a drug that changes the epigenome
A new drug changes the chemical markers that attach to DNA, making it possible to treat even old traumatic memories ...
Truths and myths about left-brain, right-brain functions
Handedness and brain asymmetry are widely regarded as unique to humans, and associated with left-brain and right-brain functions. But which ...
Where do genes come from? Non-coding regions of DNA
"Where do new genes come from?" is a long-standing question in genetics and evolutionary biology. A new study from researchers ...
Diet changes alter the human gut microbiome
Long-term dietary intake influences the structure and activity of the trillions of microorganisms residing in the human gut, but it ...
Infectious cancer contains 11k-year-old dog genes
Call it the Methuselah mutt. There are genes from a dog that lived 11,000 years ago in an infectious cancer ...
Human stem cells repair damaged retinal tissue in mice
Human induced-pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from human umbilical cord-blood are capable of repairing damaged retinal vascular tissue in mice, ...
Synthetic biology produces novel antibiotic
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego say they have developed a new genetic platform that allows efficient production ...
Hunting for the genetic roots of genius
When he was 17, Zhao Bowen was a bored student who made an audacious decision. In a country where the ...
Genetic counseling over the phone is as good as face-to-face
Genetic counseling delivered over the telephone is as effective as face-to-face counseling, finds the largest randomized study to date comparing ...
How humans evolved to drink milk
A new study has tried to understand why it was so advantageous to drink milk in different parts of the ...
Petition to lift 23andMe FDA ban reaches 10k signatures
Back in November, the Food and Drug Administration sent a letter to the genotype-screening company, 23andMe, basically ordering it to ...
Genetics behind schizophrenia just got more complex
An international team of researchers has found that the cause of schizophrenia is more complex than already believed, with rare ...
New genes linked to increased chance of gaining abdominal fat
Excess abdominal fat is an indicator for heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer and a person's measure of such ...
Scientists wrong in linking gene to whale and dolphin brain evolution
In 2012, a team of Chinese scientists showed that a gene called ASPM has gone through bouts of accelerated evolution ...
Giant leaps of evolution make cancer cells deadly
The complex invasion of multiple body tissues that occurs when cancer metastasizes is driven by huge leaps of evolution. Maybe ...
Deciphering the mysterious X chromosome
The X chromosome is part of the system that determines gender. Yet, despite its significance in human life, the X ...
How did blood-sucking insects evolve to… suck blood?
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. For the past several ...
Diet can explain half of racial blood pressure puzzle
By studying metabolites in urine samples from 1559 US citizens, researchers identified differences between the two groups. As well as ...
