Megan Molteni
Can genetics help explain why some people make more money than others?
The UK Biobank is the single largest public genetic repository in the world... . But when David Hill, a statistical ...
Is there such a thing as too much prenatal genetic information?
[P]renatal whole-genome sequencing is [not] commercially available yet (though it’s definitely coming). But what is available is something called noninvasive ...
When birth control fails: Genetic mutation can make the pill less effective
For nearly 60 years, hormonal contraceptives have freed women from their own biology. ... But no form of hormonal birth control—pill, patch, ...
When targeting diseases, how worried should we be about CRISPR’s potential for gene-editing errors?
Of all the big, world-remaking bets on the genome-editing tool known as Crispr, perhaps none is more tantalizing than its ...
First clinical trials for controversial ‘3-parent’ fertility treatment begin
[A] 32-year-old Greek woman, who’d previously undergone two operations for endometriosis and four unsuccessful cycles of IVF, once again returned ...
Why genealogy tests will ‘send a lot more people to jail’ in 2019
In April [2018], a citizen scientist named Barbara Rae-Venter used a little-known genealogy website called GEDMatch to help investigators find a man ...
‘Human gene-editing scandal’: Should rogue scientist’s work be published?
How do you handle the data of a scientist who violates all the norms of his field? … On the one hand, you ...
Genome surgeons target genetic disease at the source
[Delaney Van Riper] was born with a rare genetic disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth, or CMT, which is slowly eroding her nerve cells’ ...
Diagnosing rare infectious diseases with genetic sequencing
Early last spring, as flu season hit its peak, a woman checked into a Houston hospital with all the familiar ...
DNA testing boom drives demand for genetic counselors
[W]ith precision medicine going mainstream and an explosion of apps piping genetic insights to your phone from just a few teaspoons of spit, ...
Using CRISPR to build a ‘massive library’ of tools to cure genetic disease
In the past few years, [David] Liu’s become one of the most brightly-shining luminaries in the rapidly advancing field of gene ...
Will CRISPR gene editing disrupt or perpetuate global health and medical social inequalities?
On [June 3 and 4], hundreds of scientists, industry folk, and public health officials from all over the world filled ...
Ingestible digital pills use bioluminescent bacteria to sense stomach bleeding
Ingestible sensors—pill-sized electronics that ping your smartphone with data after you pop and swallow—have started to arrive on the market. They ...
ChatterBaby app wants to use artificial intelligence to diagnose autism through irregular baby cries
[B]y the time [Ariana] Anderson’s third kid came along, the UCLA computational neuropsychologist realized she had become fluent in baby ...
CRISPR may turn biology into the next Silicon Valley-like digital platform
Crispr, the powerful gene-editing tool, is revolutionizing the speed and scope with which scientists can modify the DNA of organisms, including ...
What’s CRISPR? Here’s a primer on the powerful gene-editing tool
If you’re asking, “what’s Crispr?” the short answer is that it’s a revolutionary new class of molecular tools that scientists ...
Can CRISPR be used safely in humans? ‘It’s still an open question’
Biotech has been betting big on Crispr, the gene-editing technique that promises to snip away some of humanity’s worst diseases. But last ...
Cryogenics logistics: Delivering CAR-T treatments at minus 240 degrees to save lives
Last year, the FDA approved the first CAR T-cell treatments—a new class of promising therapies that train the body’s immune ...
Finding a CRISPR delivery route in humans is the hard part
Crispr, the promising new gene editing technology, promises to eradicate the world of human suffering—but for all the hype and hope, it hasn’t ...
Using DNA to store data? US defense agency DARPA is trying
[T]he Department of Defense agency tasked with funding science’s most far-out hopes has begun investing millions in discovering radical, non-binary ...
Video: Explaining CRISPR gene editing with a toy train
When people refer to Crispr, they're probably talking about Crispr-Cas9, a complex of enzymes and genetic guides that together finds ...
GMO nitrogen-fixing microbes could one day help plants fertilize themselves
Peanuts, peas, and many types of beans are climate-friendly because they basically make their own fertilizer. They play host to ...
23andMe chasing Parkinson’s clues through genomic data mining
In 2015, 23andMe began inking lucrative research agreements with pharma giants like Genentech and Pfizer, in addition to launching its own R&D ...
‘Mosquito factory’ churns out sterile males produced without genetic modification to fight Zika
100,000 live mosquitoes, all male, all incapable of producing offspring [are released daily in Fresno, California]. … Though counterintuitive, the ...
Carnivores beware: Meat allergies skyrocketing thanks to lone star tick
In the last decade and a half, thousands of previously protein-loving Americans have developed a dangerous allergy to meat. And ...
CRISPR needs ‘global consensus’ in fight to ameliorate diseases
[A]t WIRED’s 2017 Business Conference in New York, Jennifer Doudna said it was...Crispr custom-designed human offspring that made her take ...
Sensationalism or news? Was journal right to publish CRISPR ‘off-target mutations’ study?
[When] doctors from Columbia, Stanford, and the University of Iowa published a one-page letter to the editor of Nature Methods describing...2,000 unintended ...
Tree vaccine: ‘Weaponized’ GM virus could save Florida citrus industry from greening disease
Florida’s citrus growers are running out of time. Since 2005, when a deadly disease called citrus greening first showed up ...