February 5, 2025
(Quanta) – “It’s really hard for humans to understand biological sequence,” said the computer scientist Brian Hie, who heads the Laboratory of Evolutionary Design at Stanford University, based at the nonprofit Arc Institute. This was the impetus behind his new … Read More
February 3, 2025
(New York Times) – The research offers hope to tens of thousands of patients with kidney failure who are on a long waiting list for an organ transplant. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given the green light to … Read More
January 31, 2025
(BBC) – A gene-editing therapy for sickle cell disease, with a price tag of £1.65m, is to be offered to patients on the NHS in England. About 50 people a year with the inherited blood disorder are likely to receive … Read More
January 31, 2025
European Journal of Human Genetics (vol. 33, no. 1, 2025) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
January 30, 2025
(NPR) – Towana Looney is waiting to check in with her doctors at NYU Health Langone when it registers that she’s passing a major milestone in her recovery from a kidney transplant. In late November she became the first person … Read More
January 28, 2025
(The New Atlantis) – From cradle to grave, surrogacy to smartphones to gender surgery to euthanasia, Americans are using technology to shortcut human nature — and shortchange ourselves. Here is a new agenda for turning technology away from hacking humans … Read More
January 27, 2025
(Associated Press) – An Alabama woman passed a major milestone Saturday to become the longest living recipient of a pig organ transplant – healthy and full of energy with her new kidney for 61 days and counting. “I’m superwoman,” Towana … Read More
January 27, 2025
(The Guardian) – Exclusive: In-vitro gametes are viewed as the holy grail of fertility research Mass-producing eggs and sperm in a laboratory in order to have a baby with yourself or three other people in a “multiplex” parenting arrangement might … Read More
January 23, 2025
(Wall Street Journal) – The Trump administration is preparing an executive order that would halt federal funding, at least temporarily, for a risky and controversial kind of research into viruses that makes the pathogens more dangerous or contagious. The goal … Read More
January 21, 2025
(NBC News) – As fears grow of a possible bird flu pandemic in humans, the federal government is pouring more money into the development of new vaccines, including an mRNA shot. On Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services … Read More
January 20, 2025
Hastings Center Report (vol. 54, Issue S2, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
January 17, 2025
(Wired) – What may be the first commercially available book saved in DNA is the latest example of how consumers might use molecular data storage. As the rate of humanity’s data creation increases exponentially with the rise of AI, scientists … Read More
January 16, 2025
(Science) – Result could be first success at stitching a curative gene into a chromosome’s “safe harbor,” reducing cancer and other risks A little-known gene editor, tested with help from a disgraced gene therapist seeking redemption, may have cured a … Read More
January 16, 2025
(Associated Press) – The genetic mutation linked to Huntington’s has long been known, but scientists haven’t understood how people could have the mutation from birth, but not develop any problems until later in life. New research shows that the mutation … Read More
January 15, 2025
(The Atlantic) – Thanks to more sophisticated genetic-testing techniques, IVF—an expensive, invasive treatment originally developed to help people with fertility troubles—is becoming a tool for optimizing health. A handful of companies offer screening for diseases and disorders that range from … Read More
January 9, 2025
(Ars Technica) – Since 2016, Microsoft has required all Windows devices to include a strong, trusted platform module that enforces Secure Boot. To this day, organizations widely regard Secure Boot as an important, if not essential, foundation of trust in … Read More
January 7, 2025
(Wired) – Treatments for rare diseases are hard to create and expensive to deliver, but there is new hope for editing the software of the genome. For progeria and thousands of other genetic diseases, there are two reasons why this … Read More
December 27, 2024
(ABC) – From a pig kidney transplant to restoring genetic deafness, 2024 was a year full of medical breakthroughs. The breakthroughs include the discovery of a cause of an autoimmune disease, the development of a “game-changing” drug and potential hope … Read More
December 27, 2024
The New England Journal of Medicine (vol. 391, no. 20, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
December 25, 2024
European Journal of Human Genetics (vol. 32, no. 12, 2024) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
December 23, 2024
(CNBC) – “Is curing patients a sustainable business model?” analysts ask in an April 10 report entitled “The Genome Revolution.” “The potential to deliver ‘one shot cures’ is one of the most attractive aspects of gene therapy, genetically-engineered cell therapy … Read More
December 17, 2024
(Associated Press) – An Alabama woman is recovering well after a pig kidney transplant last month that freed her from eight years of dialysis, the latest effort to save human lives with animal organs. Towana Looney is the fifth American … Read More
December 13, 2024
(NPR) – “The for-profit sector is focusing on conditions, such as sickle cell disease, such as cancer, which are commercially viable because there are just enough people with them,” Urnov says. The problem is, “that leaves 99.5% of folks outside … Read More
December 12, 2024
(Knowable Magazine) – Short sleepers cruise by on four to six hours a night and don’t seem to suffer ill effects. Turns out they’re genetically built to require less sleep than the rest of us. Everyone has heard that it’s … Read More
December 11, 2024
(Wired) – “People don’t always realize they are creating a human being and not a piece of furniture.” For years now, aspiring parents have been designing their children. Screening embryos for disease-causing genes during IVF, selecting their future baby’s sex, … Read More
