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.
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 ...
Toddler tantrums driven by genetics more than environment
The development of physical aggression in toddlers is strongly associated with genetic factors and to a lesser degree with the ...
DNA test solves the Titanic’s last mystery
It has been described as the Titanic’s last mystery and involves one of the most tragic of all tales connected ...
Ancient amber encases animals and DNA
In the 1993 film “Jurassic Park,” miners discover a mosquito entombed in a red-yellow substance, supposedly carrying the DNA of ...
Jet lag and night shifts profoundly disrupt gene rhythm
Researchers have found evidence that jet lag causes "profound disruption" to more than 1,000 genes, including many that are normally ...
Complications of finding a doctor who supports genetic screening during IVF
Genetic screening can reduce the chances of initiating an IVF pregnancy that may end in miscarriage but, as one woman ...
Turning to DNA to tailor prescriptions
Scientists searching for a way to avoid prescribing medications to patients that may cause dangerous physical or behavioral responses are ...
Human meddling will spur the evolution of new species
A decade ago, ecologist Chris Thomas warned that climate change would wipe out a quarter of all species. Now he ...
Some children of sperm donors lack a sense of identity
All I know about my father is that, one day in August 1971, he went into an office in Harley ...
India government allows import of frozen embryos
India has allowed the import of human embryos for artificial reproduction, opening up what is expected to be a huge ...
Gene-banking lizard sperm to prevent species extinction
Scientists will take a major step forward using biotechnological methods to help conserve reptiles in Western Australia's Kimberley region. The ...
Hoping a genome test will ID daughter’s mystery disease
It isn't easy being 16, social, smart — and sitting in a wheelchair. Lilly Grossman has never been completely "normal" ...
Womb transplants prove successful for nine women
Nine women have received transplants of uteruses donated by their mothers or other living relatives in an ongoing trial of ...
My risk-benefit ratio for personal genetics
Personal genomics is going to play a role in future medical care. If 23andMe can't provide medical results to customers, ...
Fused gene might increase lupis risk. Or not.
It was a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup moment in genetic evolution: The end of one gene fused to the beginning ...
FDA approves gene test for post-natal detection of mental problems in children
A novel blood test that detects intellectual disabilities in babies has now gotten a nod from The Food and Drug ...
Uzbekistan to start testing for Olympian genes
A geneticist in Uzbekistan claims to have discovered at least 50 genes that can determine a person’s innate ability to ...
23andMe’s story to unfold over the course of 2014
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled in November that the kit sold by the most prominent of these companies, ...
Five unbelievable technologies made possible by synthetic biology
Synthetic biology, or breaking down life into its basic component parts to create enhanced biological systems, can be likened to ...
Hookworm genome may lead to a cure for more than 700 million infection sufferers
Scientists have decoded the genome of a lowly, blood-sucking hookworm, an advance they say could lead to cures for hookworm ...
FDA backs genetic screening, but struggles against ‘wild west’ of consumer genomics
The FDA's tussle with personal genetics company 23andMe may make the headlines. But in many other ways the agency is ...
‘Swiss-army-knife’ molecule could help researchers assess how cells really work
Researchers have discovered a first-of-its-kind way to isolate RNA from live cells in their natural tissue microenvironment without damaging nearby ...
Genes show dogs are descendants of now-extinct wolf breed
The latest genetic study to trace the origins of dogs confirms the view that they were domesticated by hunter-gatherers at ...
Analysis of baby DNA to demystify diseases
When Kira Walker was three weeks old, her pediatrician noticed a problem. She was frequently hungry and had dangerously low ...
What will the $1,000 genome mean?
Sydney’s Garvan Institute is promoting its acquisition of an Illumina machine which it says can sequence the whole human genome ...
Scientists can ID an ecosystem’s fish population from DNA in just a glass of water
Researchers can now carry out a fish survey using just a glass of the water in which the fish live ...
Decoding the genome of 19th century cholera outbreak in Philadelphia
A "shriveled piece of intestine" from an unfortunate, unknown victim of Philadelphia's 1849 outbreak of cholera has given researchers just ...
