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.
Grandma’s experiences leave a mark on your genes
The following is an excerpt. For over a hundred years, those two views — nature or nurture, biology or psychology ...
Wary development NGOs should reconsider biotechnology
The world of science, technology and engineering might seem, for good reason, miles away from the day-to-day work of most ...
Gene patents are a hindrance to innovation
The following is an excerpt. You carry a set of instructions in every cell, encrypted in DNA. Your genome, 3 billion ...
Radical gene therapy gives hope to young cancer patients
The following is an excerpt. Australian doctors are using radical gene therapy to help treat a rare and aggressive childhood ...
Discovery of new genes may aid childhood arthritis treatment
The following is an excerpt. Scientists have identified 14 new genes which may help advance treatment of childhood arthritis. The ...
Gay germ censorship
The following is an excerpt. The notion of a Gay Germ—homosexuality transmitted as some sort of infection—probably horrifies many mainstream ...
Police hope for big edge with tiny DNA dots
The following is an excerpt. PALM BAY, Fla. -- Residents in central Florida will be the first in the U.S ...
Questions over gene patents shake diagnostics industry
The following is an excerpt. At this week’s Biotechnology Industry Organization show in Chicago, a panel of law experts bemoaned the recent Supreme Court ...
Minnesota biobank bill threatens genetic privacy
The following is an excerpt. Minnesota health care officials recently admitted to building an unauthorized state biobank of DNA and ...
Deeper into genetic challenges of psychiatric diagnosis
The following is an excerpt. For my recent Observer article I discussed how genetic findings are providing some of the best evidence that ...
Mapping the H7N9 avian flu outbreaks
The following is an excerpt. Scientists do not fully understand yet how the H7N9 avian flu virus is spreading in ...
Sex with other human species might have been secret of Homo sapiens’s success
The following is an edited excerpt. For decades scientists have debated exactly how H. sapiens originated and came to be the last ...
Modern Europe’s genetic history starts in Stone Age
The following is an excerpt. Europeans as a people are younger than we thought, a new study suggests. DNA recovered from ...
Public domain Human Genome Project spurred more innovation than proprietary competitor
Does intellectual property drive innovation? Not in the field of genomics, according to a recent study by an MIT economist ...
How genetic plunder transformed a microbe into a pink, salt-loving scavenger
The following is an excerpt. Most cells would shrivel to death in a salt lake. But not the Halobacteria. These microbes ...
Who should get prenatal genetic counseling?
The following is an excerpt. Q. Who should get prenatal genetic counseling? A. There are many reasons that women and couples receive ...
Talking to children about genetic conditions
The following is an excerpt. How do you explain to a child that he or she is battling a genetic ...
Supreme Court: Myriad Genetics’ monopoly on genetic cancer tests may be weakened
The following is an excerpt. Lawyers who attended last week’s Supreme Court arguments over the patentability of human genetic material say the justices ...
Embryonic stem cell transplant restores memory, learning in mice
The following is an excerpt. For the first time, human embryonic stem cells have been transformed into nerve cells that ...
DNA Day and the Genetic Revolution
DNA Day is this week! To celebrate, IEEE Spectrum has rounded up several excellent pieces about the genetic breakthroughs that ...
Mutating bird flu raises risk of human-to-human transmission
The following is an excerpt. Fox News reported on Friday that the H7N9 bird flu outbreak in China is taking on characteristics of the ...
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 ...
South Africa’s DNA Bill heads to Parliament
The following is an excerpt. The Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Bill - also known as the DNA Bill - ...
A new tool against illegal logging: Tree DNA technology goes mainstream
The following is an excerpt. Modern DNA technology offers a unique opportunity: you could pinpoint the origin of your table ...
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 ...
