New Scientist
Early intervention: Sequencing fetal DNA could identify genetic disorders
A new test allows doctors to diagnose genetic disorders in fetuses early in pregnancy by sequencing small amounts of fetal ...
CRISPR used to fight virus hiding inside banana genome
Genome editing has been used to destroy a virus that lurks inside many of the bananas grown in Africa. Other ...
Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess really did die in Spandau prison, DNA test confirms
It is one of the greatest remaining conspiracy theories of the second world war. In May 1941, Adolf Hitler’s deputy führer, Rudolf Hess, ...
Gene-edited crops declared GMOs in EU court ruling
Organisms created by methods that alter the DNA, including CRISPR gene editing, should be subject to the same EU laws as ...
Up to 270 of 450,000 British women who missed breast cancer screens because of computer error died…or maybe not
It was announced...that, between 2009 and 2018, a computer error meant that 450,000 women aged around 70 in the UK were ...
Can ‘G-spotplasty’ surgery boost sexual satisfaction in women?
Three women have received a surgery intended to improve G-spot sensitivity and increase sexual satisfaction. The procedure tightens tissue in ...
Breastfeeding breakthrough: Transgender woman is first to feed her baby
A 30-year-old transgender woman has become the first officially recorded to breastfeed her baby. An experimental three-and-a-half-month treatment regimen, which included hormones, a ...
Mom was right: Teenagers’ brains can’t process what’s important and what’s not
Adults are generally pretty good at being able to tell when a situation is worthy of extra time or concentration ...
Women may have something to gain from male infertility
The plot of P.D.James’s dystopian novel The Children Of Men revolves around a provocative thought experiment: what would happen if ...
Should we populate other habitable worlds with life from Earth?
Our galaxy may contain billions of habitable worlds that don’t host any life. Should we attempt to change that? Claudius ...
Would switching to 100% organic farming help the environment? ‘Absolutely not’
Should the world’s farms go 100 percent organic to protect the environment? Absolutely not. One huge problem is that organic ...
World Anti-Doping Agency says ‘no’ to gene editing in sports competitions
The battle between sports cheats and testers is poised to enter a whole new arena. The World Anti-Doping Agency has ...
GM yeast grows non-psychoactive marijuana compound for potential epilepsy treatment
A non-psychoactive compound found in marijuana plants called cannabidivarin (CBDV) has shown promise in the treatment of severe cases of epilepsy ...
Glyphosate herbicide ban won’t save anyone from cancer, will harm environment
The widely used weedkiller glyphosate is available in every garden store, but now there are fears it can cause cancer ...
Should you get paid for your genetic data?
Your DNA determines many aspects of who you are, and an increasing number of companies are claiming they can decode ...
Different types of meditations affect your brain in unique ways
We are used to hearing that meditation is good for the brain, but now it seems that not just any kind ...
Unapproved artificial organs implanted in humans
Experimental implants manufactured at University College London were sent abroad and used on patients despite not having approval for human ...
Lee Berger: Paleoanthropologist ‘rewriting’ human evolutionary history
[Lee Berger] is the palaeoanthropologist behind the recent discoveries of not one but two new species of human ancestor. The ...
CRISPR shows promise against a ‘range of disorders’ in animal studies
The race is on to edit the DNA in our body to fight or prevent disease. Promising results from animal ...
CRISPR gene-edited wheat safe for celiac sufferers on horizon
People forced to avoid gluten could soon have their bread (and cake) and eat it. Now there are strains of wheat that ...
Far out: Could psychedelics fight ‘treatment-resistant’ depression?
Given existing antidepressants don’t work for many people, the excitement surrounding the development of a new class of treatments from ...
How, why and when humans became able to talk
How and when did we first become able to speak? A new analysis of our DNA reveals key evolutionary changes ...
Viewpoint: Don’t expect the first CRISPR baby to be born in the US
The media well and truly pricked up its collective ears when US geneticist Shoukhrat Mitalipov last month showed that he ...
Stem cell implants could provide ‘functional cure’ for type 1 diabetes
Last week, two people with type 1 diabetes became the first to receive implants containing cells generated from embryonic stem cells to ...
Junk collecting: As little as 8 percent of our DNA may have functional impact
The code that makes us is at least 75 percent rubbish, according to a study that suggests most of our ...
Fossilized child’s tooth offers rare clue about our Denisovan ancestors
Three becomes four. The extraordinarily sparse fossil record of the Denisovans – an ancient form of human – has gained ...
Hominids in love: Humans and Neanderthals may have mated more than 219,000 years ago
If modern humans didn’t reach Europe until about 60,000 years ago, how has DNA from them turned up in a ...
Controversial CRISPR-causes-unwanted-mutations study possibly tainted by use of closely-related mice
In May 2017, a study claimed that the revolutionary CRISPR gene editing technique can cause thousands of unwanted and potentially ...
