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: Using CRISPR to cure diseases is an ethical tightrope — Here’s a Jewish perspective
CRISPR has the potential to treat or even cure a gamut of inherited diseases which have long evaded researchers ...
Curvy women advantage? Large buttocks may signal an evolutionary edge
Research suggests that humans evolved to have larger buttocks compared to other mammals because we primarily walk on two legs ...
Can this DNA test predict your chances of getting addicted to opioids? FDA approval stirs controversy
Using a swab inside the cheek and a sophisticated computer algorithm, a DNA test recently approved by federal regulators promises to ...
What is the meaning of life? Artificial intelligence is trying to find out
It took humans 134 years to discover Norn cells. Last summer, computers in California discovered them on their own in ...
Viewpoint: ‘For most young people, a medical pathway is not the best way to manage gender-related distress’ — English rethink puberty blockers for youth in wake of controversial ‘Cass Report’
Hilary Cass is the kind of hero the world needs today. She has entered one of the most toxic debates ...
Viewpoint: Hunting cloned sheep? What weird things might happen as our bio-engineering skills improve?
Some people — not just Montanans — pay to indulge in “captive hunting,” and large sheep make excellent targets ...
Viewpoint: Is 23andMe a ‘sinking ship?’ Stock value plummets in face of dwindling customer base and data breaches
The consumer genome sequencing company 23andMe is a sinking ship – and its CEO is conducting the orchestra ...
‘Their clocks are ticking faster’: Accelerated biological aging linked to cancer risks
Accelerated aging — when someone’s biological age is greater than their chronological age — could increase the risk of cancer ...
Viewpoint: Eugenics revival — From anti-immigration ‘Great Replacement Theory’ to Silicon Valley libertarian ‘pro-natalism’, ‘racial science’ is gaining a stronghold in the US
Eugenics is widely regarded as a debunked pseudoscience—developed and promoted mostly in Nazi Germany—that fell off the political radar ...
Puppy love: When did the ‘unique and deeply ancient role of dogs as human companions’ begin?
A poignant, 2,000-year-old burial in northern Italy could be the latest evidence of an ancient friendship between man and dog ...
Addressing racial disparities in health research: $3 billion ‘All of Us’ genetic diversity project’s ‘trove of results’
A big federal research project aimed at reducing racial disparities in genetic research has unveiled the program's first major results ...
‘Miracle’ sickle cell cure limits ability to have children: What are the options?
When Celenise Mahmood first learned about two new gene therapies that could cure sickle cell disease, she felt a wave ...
Viewpoint: 25 vs 0.4 COVID deaths per 100,000 people — Trump supporters suffer higher mortality vs rest of America as anti-vaccine movement shifts from left to right
Anti-vaccine activism never had a political affiliation: the left is concerned with avoiding anything chemical, & the right opposes mandates ...
Generation X and evolution illiteracy: 30% or less acknowledge human evolution, although they do get slightly wiser as they age
A new study illustrates that the attitudes of Americans in Generation X toward evolution shifted as they aged ...
City-dwellers are gradually losing their ability to digest plant foods
Urban humans have developed trouble digesting plants while rural populations still have lots of the gut bacteria that break down ...
Humans are naturally wired to feel fear. What happens in the brain when this turns into PTSD?
Experiencing a generalization of fear is psychologically damaging and can result in debilitating long-term mental health conditions ...
Viewpoint: Dead-end drugs? First-generation breakthrough Alzheimer’s treatments are falling short of expectations
The quest to find effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease has historically been a lost cause with failed drugs and dashed ...
Sex and disease: Gene identified that protects men from death when hospitalized with COVID
A new study has identified a gene variant that protects men from from severe illness and death when COVID-19 lands ...
AI-powered patch that reads throat muscle movements can potentially restore speech for people with voice disorders
AI-powered patch reads throat muscle movements, potentially restoring speech for people with voice disorders ...
What’s going on in your brain when you’re zoning out on the couch?
The brain's 'default mode' has inspired a raft of research into networks of brain regions and how they interact with ...
New England Journal of Medicine and eugenics: Journal chronicles fraught history covering sterilization of immigrants, poor people and those with disabilities
In 1923, Boston City Hospital chose Dr. William Mayo, already famous for the work of his Minnesota clinic, to speak ...
AI and race: This bot can sniff out depression based on your social media posts — but only if you’re white
Over the years, scientists had developed methods to identify depression by analyzing the language people use in social media posts ...
Viewpoint: ‘Baby Olivia’ scandal — Republican legislators lie to kids about fetal development in anti-abortion propaganda video
“Meet Baby Olivia,” a three-minute video produced by the anti-abortion group Live Action, is the foundation of the latest bill that ...
Leading ways CRISPR is being honed to cure and prevent disease
Talented researchers are exploring ways of using CRISPR to edit genes by cutting and pasting any desired DNA sequence ...
How common is incest? Rise of genetic testing reveals disturbing evidence
Across human cultures, incest between close family members is one of the most universal and most deeply held taboos ...
Microplastics found clogging human arteries and lungs. What are the long-term health consequences?
Raising risk of heart attacks in humans: microplastics have been found in the blood and in organs such as the ...
‘This should be setting off alarms’: Nearly 18 million Americans could be living with long COVID. What are the implications?
CDC data shows nearly 18m people could be living with long Covid even as health agency relaxes isolation recommendations ...
