Scientists move step closer to making IVF eggs from skin cells
The Guardian | Genetics
by Ian Sample Science editor
2w ago
Procedure could overcome common forms of infertility and help people have children who share their DNA Scientists are a step closer to making IVF eggs from patients’ skin cells after adapting the procedure that created Dolly the sheep, the first cloned mammal, more than two decades ago. The work raises the prospect of older women being able to have children who share their DNA, and to overcome common forms of infertility caused by a woman’s eggs becoming damaged by disease or cancer treatment ..read more
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I discovered a way to identify the millions of species on Earth after a lightbulb moment in the supermarket
The Guardian | Genetics
by Paul Hebert
1M ago
I developed DNA barcoding in my back yard using a UV light and a white sheet to collect the moths of my childhood. I believe it could help discover all life on the planet As a child, I used to roam the countryside collecting moths and butterflies on the edge of the Great Lakes in Canada. It was as idyllic as it sounds: by day, I would scour the fields and forests for butterflies. At night, I would leave a white sheet and UV light in my back yard, rising at 5am to inspect the harvest of moths. By the time I was an adult, I could identify about 700 butterfly and moth species by sight, decipherin ..read more
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Peter McGuffin obituary
The Guardian | Genetics
by Michael Owen
1M ago
Researcher who established the value of genetics for understanding psychiatric conditions Peter McGuffin, who has died aged 74, showed the importance of trying to establish how genetic and non-genetic factors act together to predispose people to psychiatric disorders: so-called gene-environment interplay. He was also one of the first to see the potential of the DNA revolution for understanding psychiatric disorders, and his work laid the foundations for the application of genomics to psychiatry. It used to be assumed that depression could be divided into two forms: one the result of adverse ci ..read more
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Hackers got nearly 7 million people’s data from 23andMe. The firm blamed users in ‘very dumb’ move
The Guardian | Genetics
by Mack DeGeurin
1M ago
The company pointed at people who ‘failed to update their passwords’ as sensitive data was offered for sale on forums Three years ago, a man in Florida named JL decided, on a whim, to send a tube of his spit to the genetic testing site 23andMe in exchange for an ancestry report. JL, like millions of other 23andMe participants before him, says he was often asked about his ethnicity and craved a deeper insight into his identity. He said he was surprised by the diversity of his test results, which showed he had some Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. JL said he didn’t think much about the results until h ..read more
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Genetics may help explain Black men’s high prostate cancer risk, say scientists
The Guardian | Genetics
by Linda Geddes Science correspondent
1M ago
Exclusive: Researchers find mutations that are more common in men with African ancestry after DNA analysis Scientists have discovered genetic mutations that could help explain why Black men are at higher risk of developing prostate cancer than those of other ethnicities. The findings could lead to a test to identify those at greatest risk of developing the disease, enhancing survival rates. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among British men, with about 52,300 new cases and 12,000 deaths recorded in the UK each year. Black men are twice as likely to be diagnosed and 2.5 times more like ..read more
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When testing costs you: the genetic dilemma confronting Australians with life insurance
The Guardian | Genetics
by Daisy Dumas
2M ago
With insurance companies using genetic information to set prices and policies, advocates say the need for protection against genetic discrimination is ‘urgent’ Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast After her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, Meg Herrmann decided to get genetically tested for a hereditary cancer-causing gene. “I thought, ‘I need to know.’ Hereditary cancer can develop at any point in your life and you have a 70% likelihood that it’ll develop,” the Brisbane PhD candidate says ..read more
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Gene therapy hailed as ‘medical magic wand’ for hereditary swelling disorder
The Guardian | Genetics
by Ian Sample Science editor
2M ago
Single-dose treatment transformed lives of patients with potentially deadly condition in first human trial A groundbreaking gene therapy has been hailed as a “medical magic wand” after the treatment transformed the lives of patients with a hereditary disorder that causes painful and potentially fatal swelling. Patients who took part in the first human trial of the therapy experienced a dramatic improvement in their symptoms, and many were able to come off long-term medication and return to life as normal ..read more
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Activist who led ouster of Harvard president linked to ‘scientific racism’ journal
The Guardian | Genetics
by Jason Wilson
2M ago
Christopher Rufo recommends a newsletter to his readers that has published several supporters of discredited genetics theory The rightwing activist Christopher Rufo has links to a self-styled “sociobiology magazine” that is focused on the supposed relationships between race, intelligence and criminality, and which experts have characterized as an outlet for scientific racism. At the time of reporting, Aporia was one of 19 Substack newsletters Rufo links to in the “recommended” section on his own newsletter, which according to Substack has more than 50,000 subscribers. Rufo also appeared on Apo ..read more
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Nobel laureates call on EU to relax rules on genetic modification
The Guardian | Genetics
by Ajit Niranjan
2M ago
Open letter says lawmakers must ‘reject fearmongering’ and allow scientists to develop crops that can withstand ‘climate emergency’ The EU must “reject the darkness of anti-science fearmongering” before a key vote on gene editing, 34 Nobel prize winners have said. In an open letter shared with the Guardian and other European newspapers, the laureates demanded that lawmakers relax strict rules on genetic modification to embrace new techniques that target specific genes and edit their code. The technology could make crops more resistant to disease and more likely to survive extreme weather event ..read more
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Ocean fungi from twilight zone could be source of next penicillin-like drug
The Guardian | Genetics
by Sophie Kevany
2M ago
Largest study of ocean DNA reveals abundance of fungi thriving in extreme environment of the deep sea Large numbers of fungi have been found living in the twilight zone of the ocean, and could unlock the door to new drugs that may match the power of penicillin. The largest ever study of ocean DNA, published by the journal Frontiers in Science, has revealed intriguing secrets about the abundance of fungi in the part of the ocean that is just beyond the reach of sunlight. At between 200 metres and 1,000 metres below the surface, the twilight zone is home to a variety of organisms and animals, in ..read more
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