The human genome used in most healthcare is based on one American’s DNA. With personalized medicine booming, that’s a problem

Human genome data used in most healthcare research is based on one American’s DNA. With personalized medicine booming, that’s a problem

Ida Emilie Steinmark | Guardian | 
Healthcare’s standard genome is mostly based on one American. As we enter the era of personalised medicine, this bias has ...
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‘Perfect human’? Genetics researchers ponder ethical consequences of tinkering with human DNA

Robin McKie | Guardian | 
Researchers are investigating ways to use genome editing to tackle sickle cell anaemia, muscular dystrophy, cancer, diabetes and some forms ...
Floating Dutch dairy farm produces 200 gallons of milk a day — Here’s how this quirky project offers an answer to rising sea levels and the ‘global land squeeze’

Floating Dutch dairy farm produces 200 gallons of milk a day — Here’s how this quirky project offers an answer to rising sea levels and the ‘global land squeeze’

Matthew Kronsberg | Guardian | 
Samuel L Jackson can have his snakes on a plane. Peter and Minke van Wingerden have concocted something even wilder: ...
Heat-tolerant wheat: How we can increase yields of this staple crop despite rising temperatures

Heat-tolerant wheat: How we can increase yields of this staple crop despite rising temperatures

Robin McKie | Guardian | 
Wheat now provides 20% of the calories consumed by humans every day, but its production is under threat. Thanks to human-induced ...
Twins and the debate about biology and the environment

One in 300 people is an identical twin. What can they teach us about human nature and genetics?

Andrew Anthony | Guardian | 
A podcast by two brothers and a film about two silent sisters give fresh impetus to the debate about biology ...
Viewpoint: Has the organic trend gone stale? After 10 years of growth, organic food sales have started to fall in the UK

Viewpoint: Has the organic trend gone stale? After 10 years of growth, organic food sales have started to fall in the UK

Julian Baggini | Guardian | 
After 10 years of slow but steady growth, sales of organic food and drink in UK supermarkets have fallen by ...
Here’s how a treasure trove of plant genetics helped develop drought-tolerant wheat that farmers in arid countries are ‘falling in love with’

Here’s how a treasure trove of plant genetics helped develop drought-tolerant wheat that farmers in arid countries are ‘falling in love with’

Nina Lakhani | Guardian | 
A new drought-tolerant variety of durum wheat has been created as part of an international breeding programme to boost climate ...
Beyond the ‘yuck factor’: Precision fermentation of bacteria could dramatically soften environmental footprint of livestock-linked food production

Beyond the ‘yuck factor’: Precision fermentation of bacteria could dramatically soften environmental footprint of livestock-linked food production

George Monbiot | Guardian | 
Precision fermentation is a refined form of brewing, a means of multiplying microbes to create specific products. It has been ...
Singapore – the first country to approve the sale of cultivated meat – has become the epicenter of alternative protein innovation. Here’s how

Singapore – the first country to approve the sale of cultivated meat – has become the epicenter of alternative protein innovation. Here’s how

Donna Lu | Guardian | 
Singapore became the first country to approve the commercial sale of a protein grown “out of thin air”, according to its ...
new dyslexia genetics discovered

Reading comprehension genes: 27 newly-identified genetic variants tied to dyslexia

Nicola Davis | Guardian | 
It is estimated that about 10% of the UK population, about 6.3 million people, are dyslexic. Previous research has suggested ...
Ancient exchange of ideas: Modern humans and Neanderthals shared designs for jewelry and stone tools

Ancient exchange of ideas: Modern humans and Neanderthals shared designs for jewelry and stone tools

Hannah Devlin | Guardian | 
Modern humans lived alongside Neanderthals for more than 1,000 years in Europe, according to research that suggests the two species may have ...
The regrowth if brain cells could fight off Parkinson's.

‘If you want to stop the condition, you need to regrow brain cells’: Inside the ‘hugely complex’ fight against Parkinson’s disease

Ian Sample | Guardian | 
Parkinson’s was first described in medical texts more than 200 years ago, yet there is still no cure. It’s a ...
Struggling with long COVID

‘What’s happening to me?’ Even doctors struggle to find answers after coming down with long COVID

Yoojin Na | Guardian | 
According to a recent survey published by the National Center for Health Statistics, about 14% of all US adult populations have experienced ...
use of sheep in gene-editing

New treatments for rare, inherited childhood diseases? CRISPR sheep help advance research

Robin McKie | Guardian | 
A flock of gene-edited sheep has been used by scientists to pinpoint a promising treatment for a lethal inherited brain ...
Biopesticides and robotics emerge as lower-impact alternatives to synthetic pesticides

Biopesticides and robotics emerge as lower-impact alternatives to synthetic pesticides

Nancy Schellhorn, Sarina Macfadyen | Guardian | 
Replacement of the old generation of pesticides with a new suite of technology-based and ecological-based solutions to managing pests is ...
phantom limb treatment neurosciencneews

Some people can still feel lost limbs after amputation. Here’s how studying ‘phantom limb syndrome’ could offer clues to understanding consciousness

Mo Costandi | Guardian | 
Phantom limbs are a striking demonstration of the importance of the body for self-consciousness ...
Australia’s plan to become first country to offer preventive disease gene screening is under microscope

Australia’s plan to become first country to offer preventive disease gene screening is under microscope

Sophie Black | Guardian | 
Last month, Monash University launched DNA Screen, offering 10,000 people aged 18 to 40 “secure, free DNA testing to identify ...
These 4 new techniques are spearheading future of fertility treatments

These 4 new techniques are spearheading future of fertility treatments

Hannah Devlin | Guardian | 
Here are four of the new reproductive treatments that scientists say could be just a few years away from the ...
Does de-extinction fervor distract from saving endangered species?

Does de-extinction fervor distract from saving endangered species?

Adam Morton | Guardian | 
Since the 1990s, the endless searches for the marsupial in the wilds of Tasmania and Victoria have run alongside another ...
The Guardian’s anti-GMO columnist George Monbiot reports organic, pasture fed beef and lamb are 'some of the world’s most damaging food products'

The Guardian’s anti-GMO columnist George Monbiot reports organic, pasture fed beef and lamb are ‘some of the world’s most damaging food products’

George Monbiot | Guardian | 
What are the world’s most damaging farm products? You might be amazed by the answer: organic, pasture-fed beef and lamb ...
Have you been getting ‘winter viruses’ more often this summer? Here’s why

Have you been getting ‘winter viruses’ more often this summer? Here’s why

Lizzie Cernik | Guardian | 
Across the UK, GP surgeries and hospitals are seeing an influx of patients with typical winter ailments, including coughs, colds, ...
Boosting photosynthesis: GMO soy bean trial demonstrates 25% jump in yield

Boosting photosynthesis: GMO soy bean trial demonstrates 25% jump in yield

Hannah Devlin | Guardian | 
Genetically modified soya beans designed to absorb light more efficiently produced a 25% greater yield in an advance that could ...
Tasmanian tiger: Scientists hope to revive this marsupial from extinction

Tasmanian tiger: Scientists hope to revive this marsupial from extinction

Adam Morton | Guardian | 
Scientists in Australia and the US have launched an ambitious multimillion-dollar project to bring back the thylacine, a marsupial that ...
Could the universe be an elaborate game constructed by bored aliens?

Could the universe be an elaborate game constructed by bored aliens?

Steven Poole | Guardian | 
Elon Musk thinks you don’t exist. But it’s nothing personal: he thinks he doesn’t exist either. At least, not in ...
Synthetic embryos: What are they, and how are they challenging ethical constraints?

Synthetic embryos: What are they, and how are they challenging ethical constraints?

Ian Sample | Guardian | 
Scientists at the Weizmann Institute in Israel found that stem cells from mice could be made to self-assemble into early ...
Hungry after spending time in the summer sun? Male hormones could be the cause

Hungry after spending time in the summer sun? Male hormones could be the cause

Linda Geddes | Guardian | 
Summer sunshine can leave us feeling hot, sweaty and a bit burnt – but it may also make men hungrier, ...
Viewpoint: Green groups urge ending biofuel use to address global food shortages

Viewpoint: Green groups urge ending biofuel use to address global food shortages

Fiona Harvey | Guardian | 
Biofuel is derived from food crops, including wheat, maize and edible oils. The World Food Programme has warned that the rising prices ...
3-D printed breast implants? This alternative to silicon regrows breast tissue and degrades without a trace

3-D printed breast implants? This alternative to silicon regrows breast tissue and degrades without a trace

Ida Emilie Steinmark | Guardian | 
Every year, 2 million people worldwide are diagnosed with breast cancer. Most choose not to have their breasts reconstructed; in ...
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