Direct-to-consumer genetic tests are not an accurate source of health information. Users should also consider the future privacy implications of sharing their genetic data.
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DNA testing kits will be a popular gift this holiday season. Before mailing off your saliva, it’s important to understand what these kits can and cannot tell us.
A genetic “clock” lets scientists estimate how long extinct creatures lived. Wooly mammoths could expect around 60 years.
Australian Museum
One year after the first CRISPR babies were announced, changes in policies and regulations have meant that there have been no new CRISPR announcements since.
No, a DNA swab can’t tell you if you’re gay, or likely to be obese, or depressed. And it can be damaging to believe so.
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Genetic apps claim to reveal fundamental insights about your health, well-being, and even intellect. But it’s not just spurious science - believing these traits are genetic can have harmful consequences.
A viral invasion is revealing how the genome has its own immune system to fight off attacks.
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary
CRISPR technology is continually improving to make it more specific, but serious consideration should be given to when and how CRISPR is safe for gene editing.
Health data can be collected with and without patient consent, and can produce significant research outcomes.
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Global phosphate production is set to peak in 2030, around the same time the world’s population will reach nine billion. As a finite resource, a phosphate shortage will effect global food production.
Thomas Durcan’s lab is using pluripotent stem cells to grow human brain neurons in a dish, in search of a cure for Parkinson’s disease.
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Thomas Durcan’s lab is growing 3D mini-brains in the search for a cure for Parkinson’s disease. Over the next year he is giving all his lab’s protocols, methods and results away.
A 3D recreation of a recently discovered Neanderthal tooth.
Joshua Lindal
Before sending humans to Mars or the moon, scientists need to understand what long-term space living does to the human body. Now results are coming in from the Kelly brothers in the TWINS Study,
With the right skills and infrastructure, Africa can boost its genomics research efforts.
Dmytro Zinkevych/Shutterstock
Genomics research is crucial to identify Africa-specific solutions to a range of diseases.
Experts have called for a moratorium on clinical research with CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing.
of the germline — that is changing heritable DNA in sperm, eggs or embryos to make genetically modified children.
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CRISPR gene editing should learn from the Slow Food movement. Scientists must allow time for critical conversations and perfecting of techniques before rewriting the source code of humanity.
Of more than 500 species of sharks in the world’s oceans, scientists have only sequenced a handful of genomes – most recently, white sharks.
Terry Goss/Wikimedia
Why do scientists spend so much time and money mapping the DNA of species like white sharks? Single studies may offer insights, but the real payoff comes in comparing many species to each other.
Rare diseases aren’t, in fact, all that rare. Yet they continue to be brushed aside by most politicians. Why?
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