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.
‘Garage scientists’ can biohack their way to the newest health craze — and potentially make bioweapons. Should we be worried?
Anyone who can follow a recipe and has enough money to buy a pipette can modify their DNA at home ...
Déjà vu: ‘A peek into how the memory system works when it goes a little off-kilter’
It’s an eerie feeling: You walk into a place you know you’ve never been before but are overwhelmed by a ...
Hormone therapy for menopause: Here’s an updated primer
The biggest takeaway from the last two decades of research is that age matters: For women who go through early ...
Does gut bacteria ‘control’ your brain? Exploring connections between our microbiomes and mental health
Looking after the multitudes of bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms living in our guts could help us think better and ...
Viewpoint: Should the US House investigate COVID origins? Here’s the case for leaving that to scientists
One of the world’s most sensitive and consequential scientific questions will soon be grist for discussion among the members of ...
‘Perfect human’? Genetics researchers ponder ethical consequences of tinkering with human DNA
Researchers are investigating ways to use genome editing to tackle sickle cell anaemia, muscular dystrophy, cancer, diabetes and some forms ...
Sleeping pills hasten dementia? Bogus study illustrates how correlation studies are often manipulated to reach a desired, ideological conclusion
A new exploratory paper links sleeping pills to dementia but while the press release uses the term risk frequently, it ...
Free sperm freezing: Russia’s offer to soldiers with a good chance of dying in Ukraine
Russia’s health ministry will provide financial support for sperm freezing to soldiers sent to fight in Ukraine ...
‘Sleep is a need, but it’s also a ritual’: Exploring the scientific mystery of snoozing
Why do living things sleep? “Ask researchers this question, and listen as, like clockwork, a sense of awe and frustration ...
Viewpoint: Did health officials bungle by embracing mRNA vaccines at the expense of J&J’s single shot?
How many times have public-health experts told us that Covid isn’t like the flu? Suddenly that’s changed. The Food and ...
Challenging ‘blank slate’ theories: Most evolutionary researchers agree genes play outsized role in shaping human behavior
Research in evolutionary psychology attracts considerable attention, from both enthusiasts and critics. Evolutionary researchers devote substantial effort to correcting misperceptions ...
How Neanderthals thrived hunting prehistoric elephants
Neanderthals may have lived in larger groups than previously believed, hunting massive elephants that were up to three times bigger ...
Zinc fingers: New AI-powered biotech innovation could offer unique advantages over CRISPR when building gene-editing disease therapies
A new study has developed what the researchers call the "world's first" simple, modifiable proteins. Called "zinc fingers," these special ...
No extinct species has yet been brought back to life. Not discouraged, Colossal Biosciences adds the Dodo to its list of de-extinction targets
Genetic engineering company Colossal Biosciences said [January 31] that it will try to resurrect the extinct dodo bird, and it’s ...
CRISPR gene editing can treat heart disease and repair damaged tissue after a heart attack
Every year cardiovascular disease accounts for about 32% of all deaths worldwide. Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical ...
Hike a day keeps the doctor away? Spending time in nature could reduce need for anxiety and blood pressure medications, study suggests
Spending time outside with trees, water and everything else nature has to offer, may reduce the need for anxiety drugs ...
Mouthfeel: Here’s why we find chocolate so irresistible
Researchers have decoded the sensory processing mechanisms that make the sensation of eating chocolate so irresistible to most people ...
‘Magic bullet or genetic atom bomb?’: Exploring unintended consequences of using gene drives to eradicate disease-spreading mosquitoes
Every year more than 600,000 people die from mosquito-transmitted malaria, most of them children under age five. Some insects that ...
Low serotonin is not a cause of depression? Controversial study spawns misinformation about the effectiveness of SSRIs
The media exploded when a paper declared that low serotonin doesn’t cause depression— something many scientists had been saying for ...
Video: Why and how did consciousness evolve?
In a recent episode of Closer to Truth, Robert Lawrence Kuhn interviewed University of California cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman on ...
‘Getting shunned by others could have been deadly’: An evolutionary explanation for ‘cancel culture’
Social media plays a major role in today’s cancel culture. We can think of a public cancellation as a large-scale ...
Viewpoint: Malaria kills half a million people each year. Here’s how CRISPR gene edited mosquitoes could end this scourge
Genetically modified mosquitoes … could CRISPR gene editing end malaria? This article tells the story of Target Malaria, a project ...
Cancer vaccine progress: CRISPR-developed shot stops brain tumors in mice
Cancer of the brain and nervous system accounted for over 250,000 deaths worldwide in 2020 ...
Humans have the genes to grow a full coat of body hair. This study explains why are we so hairless
Humans appear to have the genes for a full coat of body hair, but evolution has disabled them, scientists at ...
Autism diagnoses tripled in the 2000s. More accurate assessments, genetics and environmental factors likely culprits
New research suggests doctors have improved at identifying autism, especially among children with average or above-average IQs. But that doesn't ...
What should you say to a potential date? AI takes on the online dating world
New AI-driven tools are meant to help singles cut the small talk and get on more dates. Will they change ...
Using synthetic biology to rewire T-cells to fight cancer
With a slew of tools to trick out immune cells, researchers are expanding the repertoire of CAR-T therapies ...
