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.
Researchers use lasers to insert DNA into individual cells
Researchers in South Korea have devised a super-precise method for inserting DNA into cells, powered by lasers. Using a brief ...
Genomic sequencing identifies carcinogen in herbal remedy
Genomic sequencing experts at Johns Hopkins partnered with pharmacologists at Stony Brook University to reveal a striking mutational signature of ...
We shouldn’t use just one approach to study genetics of obesity
Researchers have found many common gene sequence variants linked to obesity, but, so far, these only account for about 5% ...
Race matters for stem cell transplants
If you become ill with a blood cancer or other disease that requires a stem cell transplant, here’s an uncomfortable ...
How gene therapy helped one bubble boy
Two-year-old Jameson Golliday was born with X-SCID, or "bubble boy disease," which means he has no immune system. At birth he had ...
One gene variant contributes to two mental disorders
Schizophrenia and fragile X syndrome both can involve problems with cognitive function, and two studies published in Nature Neuroscience earlier on August 4 ...
Resurrecting extinct animals can’t produce genetically viable populations
Like big kids everywhere, I would love to see it happen. The idea of resurrecting woolly mammoths fires the imagination ...
Hope for a species: Przewalski’s horse born via artificial insemination
Przewalski's horses are rare and endangered wild horses native to Mongolia. They were declared extinct in the wild in the 1960s, ...
Personal genetics company 23andMe launches television campaign
It's become easier and easier to discover who you are and where you came from thanks to DNA analysis, and now 23andMe ...
Obesity travels down generations through epigenetics
A couple of weeks ago, a 6.1kg (13.4lb) baby was born in Germany, a record for that nation. We do ...
Astronaut twin study could reveal genetics of space health
NASA's Identical twin astronauts are splitting up to help scientists understand genetics of space health problems ...
Antidepressants kick in faster with the help of small interfering RNA
In a recent experiment, researchers tested if something called a small interfering RNA, which can restrict the effects of RNA interference ...
Genetic mutations work differently in different individuals
Scientists have known for a while that genetic mutations can modify each other's effects and that subtle differences in the ...
Cataloguing Earth’s genetics, to cure disease and reverse extinction
Researchers at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History are helping to tackle Earth's remaining 1.3 million species through a project known ...
DNA tells the story of human migration
Genome research tells a story of get up and go: it deciphers a text far older than any written record, ...
New, fast technique tests biodiversity by crushing bugs and sequencing the “soup”
Scientists at the University of East Anglia have shown that sequencing the DNA of crushed up creepy crawlies can accelerate ...
First lab-grown burger: Groundbreaking, a bit bland, and definitely not GM
The worlds first lab-grown burger, made from muscle stem cells, was cooked and eaten in London. Despite technically delivering on ...
Future foods: Candy grapes, hypoallergenic apples, and more!
Whether it's been genetically modified, cross-pollinated or created out of some other scientific process, scientists are aiming to create food ...
If beer or blue cheese smells good to you, thank your DNA
We all smell things a little differently, and new research shows why: By examining the DNA of hundreds of individuals ...
Would you edit your genes?
The most difficult thinking about gene therapy involves normally healthy people who have mutations that are highly predictive of a ...
A sperm bank for honeybees
There's a lot of buzz at Washington State University over work to develop the first sperm bank for honeybees. Entomologist ...
Study shows direct link between rice consumption and arsenic-induced genetic damage
It’s been more than a decade since scientists first raised an alarm about arsenic levels in rice—based on the realization ...
Engineering life: the principles of synthetic biology
Engineering began as an outgrowth of the craftwork of metallurgical artisans. In a constant quest to improve their handiwork, those ...
Evolution will punish the selfish? It’s not as simple as that
Media coverage of a game theory study of selfishness and evolution overstates the result in the name of catchy headlines ...
Gene combinations help predict treatment success for alcoholism medication
An experimental treatment for alcohol dependence works better in individuals who possess specific combinations of genes that regulate the function ...
Researchers say Y chromosome traces back to the time of Mitochondrial Eve or before
The largest analyses to date of the human Y chromosome suggest that modern men can trace their family tree further ...
Spliceosome may help disable foreign RNA from viral infections
Although small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are largely explored today for their potential in gene therapy, the phenomenon was first described ...
