October 24, 2024
(Wired) – The web’s biggest AI-powered search engines are featuring the widely debunked idea that white people are genetically superior to other races. AI-infused search engines from Google, Microsoft, and Perplexity have been surfacing deeply racist and widely debunked research … Read More
October 23, 2024
(The Guardian) – There is broad scientific consensus that intelligence is partly inherited and that genes play a significant role. But pinning this incredibly complex trait down to precise contributions from specific genes is a far more thorny scientific challenge … Read More
October 23, 2024
(Nature) – ‘Bricks’ of DNA, some of which have chemical tags, could one day be an alternative to storing information electronically. An innovative method now allows DNA to store information as a binary code — the same strings of 0s … Read More
October 22, 2024
(New York Times) – After 44 days, Kendric Cromer, 12, left the hospital. While his family feels fortunate that he was the first to receive a treatment, their difficult experiences hint at what others will be up against. Kendric Cromer, … Read More
October 18, 2024
(The Guardian) – Heliospect’s services were marketed at up to $50,000 for 100 embryos, undercover footage shows A US startup company is offering to help wealthy couples screen their embryos for IQ using controversial technology that raises questions about the … Read More
October 16, 2024
(Axios) – GlaxoSmithKline is suing Moderna for allegedly using technology patented by GSK in its COVID-19 vaccine. Why it matters: It’s the latest in a series of legal fights over who owns the intellectual property behind mRNA technology and whether … Read More
October 14, 2024
(MIT Technology Review) – Deleting your data from 23andMe is permanent and cannot be reversed. But some of that data will be retained to comply with the company’s legal obligations, according to its privacy statement. That means 23andMe and its … Read More
October 10, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – Vaccines designed to prevent cancer for high-risk groups are in early human trials Researchers are making progress toward vaccines that train healthy people’s immune systems to eliminate signs of cancer before it develops. Vaccines are in … Read More
October 7, 2024
(CNN) – The 2024 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine has been awarded to US scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their work on the discovery of microRNA, a molecule that governs how cells in the body function. Their … Read More
October 4, 2024
(Nature) – The treatment’s success in three people raises hopes for mass production of cutting-edge CAR T therapies. One woman and two men with severe autoimmune conditions have gone into remission after being treated with bioengineered and CRISPR-modified immune cells. … Read More
October 2, 2024
(Undark) – Precision medicine relies on genetic data that’s lacking in Latin America — especially for Indigenous groups. At stake is the practice of precision or personalized medicine, which uses individual variability, including genes, to make decisions regarding diagnosis or … Read More
September 30, 2024
(The Atlantic) – The company is in trouble, and anyone who has spit into one of the company’s test tubes should be concerned. 23andMe is not doing well. Its stock is on the verge of being delisted. It shut down … Read More
September 27, 2024
(MIT Technology Review) – Long-distance space travel can wreak havoc on human health. There’s radiation and microgravity to contend with, as well as the psychological toll of isolation and confinement. Research on identical twin astronauts has also revealed a slew … Read More
September 26, 2024
(MIT Technology Review) – In the decade-long fight to control CRISPR, the super-tool for modifying DNA, it’s been common for lawyers to try to overturn patents held by competitors by pointing out errors or inconsistencies. But now, in a surprise … Read More
September 23, 2024
(Knowable Magazine) – Some people of West African descent face a higher risk of renal failure. New drugs based on gene research may help right the ship — if they can reach everyone who needs them. The result was exciting. … Read More
September 20, 2024
(The Atlantic) – Deb Jenssen never wanted her children to suffer from the disease that killed her brother at 28. The illness, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, initially manifests in childhood as trouble with strength and walking, then worsens until the heart … Read More
September 18, 2024
(Plough) – If only her parents had been spared the terrible freedom of having to choose whether to have a child with a disability. “My husband and I decided that it was a loving decision not to bring her into … Read More
September 18, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – CEO Anne Wojcicki ‘surprised and disappointed’ after independent directors say she failed to produce ‘actionable’ buyout proposal All seven independent directors of DNA-testing company 23andMe resigned Tuesday, following a protracted negotiation with founder and Chief Executive … Read More
September 16, 2024
(New York Times) – Kendric Cromer, 12, is among the first patients to be treated with gene therapy just approved by the F.D.A. that many other patients face obstacles to receiving. Last December, the Food and Drug Administration gave approval … Read More
September 16, 2024
European Journal of Human Genetics (vol. 32, no. 9, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
September 13, 2024
(ABC News) – A San Jose-based biotechnology company that helps doctors detect genetic causes for cancer is among those that could be cut out of the U.S. market over ties to China A California biotechnology company that helps doctors detect … Read More
September 12, 2024
The New England Journal of Medicine (vol. 391, no. 7, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
September 10, 2024
(Nature) – Questions surrounding an often-repeated statistic about Indigenous Peoples and biodiversity show that researchers should take more care when sourcing facts. For at least two decades, scientists, policymakers and journals, including Nature, have cited a statistic without determining its … Read More
September 10, 2024
(Wired) – With antibiotics losing their effectiveness, one company is turning to gene editing and bacteriophages—viruses that infect bacteria—to combat infections. The global rise in antibiotic resistance is making bacterial infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease … Read More
August 30, 2024
(Knowable Magazine) – For decades, adding or removing methyl or acetyl groups to histones was thought to be key to when and where genes are turned on. But accumulating evidence shows that this is only part of the story. Although … Read More
