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.
Nobel Prize-winning biologist Francois Jacob has died
The following is an excerpt. One day in July 1958, François Jacob squirmed in a Paris movie theater. His wife, ...
Scientists create biggest family tree of human cells
The following is an excerpt. Cells are the basic unit of a living organism. The human body consists of a vast ...
The definition of ‘marriage’ evolves with culture
Gay marriage exemplifies a profound part of human nature: our capacity for cultural evolution ...
Gene wars: the last-ditch battle over who owns the rights to our DNA
The following is an excerpt. Tracey Barraclough made a grim discovery in 1998. She found she possessed a gene that ...
Cancer centers race to map patients’ genes
The following is an excerpt. Major academic medical centers in New York and around the country are spending and recruiting ...
Finding my inner Neandertal
The following is an excerpt. Odds are you carry DNA from a Neandertal, Denisovan or some other archaic human. Just ...
Why are gene patents controversial?
The following is an excerpt. MANY people react with bafflement when they find out that it is possible to claim ...
Gene therapy: How experimental technique overcame a troubled legacy and is now helping the blind to see
The following is an excerpt. (Medical Xpress)—In 1999, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania injected 19 people with a virus ...
Genome research creating data that’s too big for IT
The following is an excerpt. The biomedical research community is generating data at rate that has simply overcome the ability ...
Zebrafish genome helps in hunt for treatments
The following is an excerpt. When scientists began sequencing the zebrafish genome in 2001, the model organism was a favourite ...
Fish’s DNA may explain how fins turned to feet
The following is an excerpt. In the hope of reconstructing a pivotal step in evolution — the colonization of land ...
Discovery of genetic defect which triggers epilepsy
The following is an excerpt. Researchers at the University Department of Neurology at the MedUni Vienna have identified a gene ...
Heading south for the new origin of our species
The following is an excerpt. We have unearthed more and more ancient human species in recent years. Rather than there ...
Genetically modified microbes can mass-produce malaria drug
The following is an excerpt. For the first time, researchers have successfully engineered a strain of baker’s yeast capable of ...
Gene patents are sabotaging the future of medicine
The following is an excerpt. The business of DNA is undergoing a revolution. We can already get our genes scanned for ...
One fish, two fish: What their DNA says about us
The following is an excerpt. One is a creature of the briny deep, a bizarre survivor of a long-forgotten era ...
Genetic profile predicts post-chemo cancer survival
The following is an excerpt. While more effective chemotherapy agents have improved cancer survival, not all patients benefit from the drugs. Now, ...
New Canadian bill would prevent genetic discrimination
Canada's liberals are calling for restrictions on how insurance companies can use genetic information ...
Happy birthday, Human Genome
In the 10 years since the completion of the Human Genome Project, genetic science has moved forward in leaps and ...
The great gay showdown: Genes vs. germs
Ron Unz, former businessman and conservative political activist, blasts through two rival explanations for homosexuality: the Gay Gene hypothesis and ...
Four ways the gene patent ruling affects you
The following is an excerpt. The Supreme Court is due to rule by the end of June on the landmark ...
Ancient bacteria-killing viruses hold evolutionary secret to bypassing antibiotic resistance
The following is an excerpt. Scientists are often fighting the losing battle against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, with every new antibiotic treatment ...
Chinese H7N9 virus making its way to labs around the world
The following is an excerpt. The new H7N9 avian influenza strain that surfaced in China recently is now making its ...
And Bob’s your uncle: A guide to defining kinfolk
The following is an excerpt. When genetic counselors attend family reunions, their unofficial job becomes Namer-of-Relationships. “Keith, you and I are ...
Human genome, then and now
The following is an excerpt. Eight years of work, thousands of researchers around the world, $1 billion spent — and ...
Justices wary of bold action on gene patenting
The following is an excerpt. WASHINGTON — In a lively hearing Monday, the Supreme Court struggled to find a narrow ...
Forget genetic privacy—DNA should be open-source
No one’s DNA has ever been private, writes Pop Sci’s Erin Biba—we spray it everywhere when our skin cells slough ...
