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.
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 ...
Could a vaccine permanently protect us from heart disease? CRISPR gene editing poised to provide healthcare solutions for most everyone
Last year, Verve Therapeutics started the first human trial of a CRISPR treatment that could benefit most people—a signal that ...
Two science-based sides to the ‘vaccine debate’? Let’s review the evidence
Are there two sides in the vaccine debate? ...
6-9 minutes: Daily vigorous exercise for even a short time helps insulate against cognitive decline, study finds
What if you could look at all the things you do daily — walking from room to room, preparing a ...
Will evolution phase out redheads from the human gene pool?
Redheads aren’t going extinct. Here’s why. Be it ginger, auburn or strawberry blonde, red hair is here to stay, say ...
CRISPR gene editing scientist who illegally manipulated embryos wants to cure genetic diseases. Should the scientific community trust him?
He Jiankui discusses his plans for finding cures for devastating genetic diseases. Should the scientific community trust him? ...
Are humans still evolving? 155 new genes identified that suggest we’re still being shaped by our environment
We may have parted ways with our primate cousins millions of years ago, but a new study shows just how ...
‘We’ve found 1-in-a-million type of cancers’: A common prenatal blood test accidentally identifies rare tumors
An expectant mother's bloodstream doesn't just contain bits of free-floating DNA associated with the fetus. It's also chock full of ...
Anti-vaccine beliefs stoke growing cases of measles and chickenpox in the US
Growing vaccine hesitancy fuels measles, chickenpox resurgence in U.S. Anti-vaccine sentiment has increased since the pandemic, driven by politicization around ...
Do you drink alcohol or smoke tobacco? Your genes may play a role
Study reveals that some people could be genetically predisposed to consuming alcohol and tobacco Research shows that, while cultural influence ...
