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.
Whooping crane migration learned, not genetic
Scientists have studied bird migration for centuries, but it remains one of nature's great mysteries. How do birds find their ...
Broccoli may trump your genetics when it comes to your chances of getting arthritis
What your post code is and whether you fancy a few florets of broccoli for dinner may trump your genetics when it ...
Are you ready for an online genetic test?
For the right person, an online genetic test can be both fun and useful. But for someone else, it might ...
Gene may contribute to weakness for statin users
Using a novel approach, researchers have discovered a genetic variant that may contribute to the muscle pain and weakness experienced ...
George Church: De-extinction is a good idea
In its June issue Scientific American published an essay stating emphatically that reanimating species such as woolly mammoths from surviving DNA is ...
Should you get sequenced? Not all bad genes predict disease
For NBC News chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman, having a “boring genome,” is a good problem to have. Snyderman ...
Did early Earth RNA really form on Mars?
At this year’s Goldschmidt conference in Florence, Steve Benner, a molecular biophysicist and biochemist at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution will present the ...
The supplement industry’s hypocritical stance on labeling
Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin’s bill to require the makers of dietary supplements to label their products accurately has the ...
New prenatal tests provide more information, but link to problems isn’t clear
Midway through her pregnancy four years ago, Denise Bratina got some scary news. Doctors told Bratina, then 37, that amniocentesis ...
For $9,000, your personal genome sequenced
If you’ve got $9,000 handy and a hankering to learn more about your genetic roadmap, here’s your chance. Partners Healthcare, ...
Memories of positive associations get written onto DNA
Another study adds to the growing list of experiements in which epigenetics appears involved in the process of locking memories ...
Genetic testing in children
Rachel visits a genetics service and asks them to test her four children for Li Fraumeni Syndrome. The genetic counsellor ...
DNA indicates that ancient humans dined on meat from domesticated pigs
Ancient hunter-gatherers in Europe, whose meat intake was once limited to wild game, may have enjoyed bacon, ham, pork chops ...
Study says mothers pass on ‘aging gene’
Mothers play a crucial role in determining how quickly their children grow old by passing on genetic mutations that speed ...
Your DNA profile as a song
I've always wanted to have my very own theme song, like a hero in a movie. Now, I do. I ...
The “chaos” sired by sperm donation
A biological father named William Marotta is resisting being held responsible for his child conceived privately — by answering a ...
‘US effect’: exaggerated results in genetics and psychiatry studies
Scientists who study human behavior are more likely than average to report exaggerated or eye-catching results if they are based ...
Immortal ‘snail fur’ may lead to cancer research breakthroughs
A marine hydroid common off the coasts of Ireland and Britain has shown remarkable regeneration properties which effectively allow it ...
John Horgan and “The end of optogenetics”
In the nearly two decades since he declared the end of science, the science writer John Horgan is still finding things to write ...
What’s the point of sex?
This may seem obvious. But in evolutionary terms, the benefits of sexual reproduction are not immediately clear. Male rhinoceros beetles ...
Could embryo donation become common practice?
Embryo donation seems like a reasonable solution: IVF leads to potentially viable, unused embryos. Other people desperately want them ...
Genomics X Prize canceled: “Outpaced by innovation”
Improvements in genome sequencing speed and cost led organizers to cancel the Genomics X Prize. But will the goal of ...
Is individuality the savior of eugenics?
Payment of the poor or incarcerated has long been acknowledged as a form of coercion; yet some such women genuinely ...
Baby born after 19 years as an embryo
Kelly Burke of Virginia is grateful to be a new mom at 45. She gave birth to son Liam James nine months ...
New “tiniest genome” identified
In August 2013, in the journal Genome Biology and Evolution, Gordon Bennett and Nancy Moran describe a new record holder, called Nasuia deltocephalinicola. It ...
Researchers create single-gene knockout library
Using a technique called “gene trapping,” researchers have built a library of haploid human cell lines. The collection includes more ...
Would Golden Rice save lives in developing countries?
Following the recent destruction of Golden Rice field trials in the Philippines, the New York Times' Amy Harmon narrates the ...
