Quartz

Gene therapy for Alzheimer’s? Biotech startup suggests new approach, using dementia ‘off switch’
What if there were a single mechanism in the brain that, when faulty, leads to all kinds of dementias? And ...

Viewpoint: Consumer genetic tests and scant privacy protections give us reason to be ‘terrified’
[Y]ou don’t have to be Orwell to understand that the decision to allow a profit-driven company to analyze a person’s ...

‘Super rare’ mutation protected Colombian woman from Alzheimer’s disease
Most of the time when we think about genetic mutations, we think about the ones that spell disaster. But sometimes, ...

Viewpoint: Read the fine print to understand the weakness of consumer genetics tests
Direct-to-consumer genetic tests like Ancestry and 23andMe were mostly the result of innocent curiosity. Geneticists at the turn of the ...

‘Countries have been invaded for far less’: Why the genetic arms race could start a war
Imagine you are the leader of a society that has chosen to opt out of the genetic arms race by ...

This AI-generated cheeseburger will make your mouth water
The techniques that empower computers to make autonomous decisions have become vogue for modern tech companies in the last six years ...

Fibromyalgia is a disease that eludes diagnosis: Can artificial intelligence change that?
There’s no tissue damage that explains the pain fibromyalgia patients experience all over their body, and contemporary medicine struggles to ...

Building a better brain model by harnessing the power of AI
Neuroscientists have a lot of data on the brain—we can see it, take pictures of it, study it. But for ...

‘Soulless, metallic robot dogs’ are headed our way
Earlier this year, [Boston Dynamics founder Marc] Raibert said the company planned to start selling its SpotMini robot dogs in 2019, and ...
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What can we learn about ourselves from studying the way animals communicate?
If you listen closely to the sound of birds chirping, you’ll hear that they’re taking turns. The same goes for ...