Bio & Life Sciences Healthcare Opinion
A new UK initiative has stirred debate about DNA analysis for healthy people. The program allows patients to pay to get their genome sequenced and analyzed if they agree to let the data be used in research. Author Salisbury says the UK controversy largely misses the point. More
Bio & Life Sciences Techonomy Events
How about replacing big, expensive MRI and other imaging equipment with a hat or a scarf? Mary Lou Jepsen showed the audience at Techonomy 2018 just how close it is to reality. More
Bio & Life Sciences Healthcare
A new study makes the case that genomic medicine can be cost effective in diagnosing rare diseases, offering a potential alternative path for millions of patients worldwide. More
Bio & Life Sciences Healthcare
A new report suggests that an innovative method of analyzing DNA will allow medical researchers to predict disease risk for far more people than can be done with conventional medical tests. More
Bio & Life Sciences Healthcare Opinion
In which our intrepid reporter gives her very blood to stay on the front lines of modern healthcare. More
Bio & Life Sciences Healthcare
New studies connect gene editing with CRISPR technology to cancer, sending stocks plummeting and raising serious questions about the technology's potential. More
Scientists, academics and other stakeholders gathering in Boston lauded the potential of what CRISPR-powered innovation could offer society — and grappled with potential negative or unintended consequences from the still-nascent technology. More
Genetic testing has become more mainstream and greater numbers of consumers are receiving their results — and left wondering what they mean and what to do with them. For those who need help navigating and understanding everything from so-called recreational genetic tests to potentially scary medical tests, this guide is for you. More
Bio & Life Sciences Community Insights
This month marks the 15th anniversary of the completion of the Human Genome Project. While the main goal of the project has not been fully realized, we are closer than ever to reaching it. Meredith Salisbury walks us through the ongoing benefits. More
The medical benefits of genomics go disproportionately to white people, while people of other ethnicities are more likely to receive inconclusive results because scientists don’t know enough about their genetic variation. We spoke with Malia Fullerton, a bioethicist and population genetics expert, about what can be done about it. More
Scientists are using genomics to reconstruct the evolutionary history of humans. These findings shed new light on our past, and also yield insights into related species, like the Neanderthals as well as other ancient hominids. At the recent Advances in Genome Biology and Technology conference, Meredith Salisbury reports on the results. More
Bio & Life Sciences Community Insights
A citizen scientist project allows dog owners to contribute to the understanding of canine genetics, shedding light on the genetics and evolution of many related species. Further scientific understanding of the habits of mountain lions are underway and critical to the development of the species. More
Bio & Life Sciences Healthcare Science
During the next two years, NHGRI will be using interactions with scientists and the public to take stock of the genomics field and where its funds can make the most difference. The landscape has shifted rapidly from the institute's early days, when it set the direction for much of the genomics community around the world. More
Bio & Life Sciences Innovation
Now is a unique time in the history of world healthcare. We can sequence faster, and we can sequence at a lower cost. Indian genomic data will unlock more of life’s source code to benefit everyone. More
Bio & Life Sciences Healthcare
It's still hard to know what to do about genetic news that's discovered about a patient during sequencing for another reason. A small percentage of such tests turn up disturbing findings. Some people want to know, some don't, but figuring out what to do often vexes doctors and researchers. Debate about how to handle this problem is growing within the genetics world. More
Bio & Life Sciences Healthcare
At the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, Bill Gates told 7,000 geneticists that the world needs them to up the pace of innovation in order to solve our most pressing health challenges. Early childhood death, malaria, and pandemics are all dangers that may be mitigated by progress in this realm, he said, showing his characteristic optimism. More
The United States faces a biomedical funding crisis. The Trump administration has proposed budget cuts that would slash scientific research. Though Congress hasn't yet gone along, the fears that the process has generated are already causing tangible harm in the scientific community. Concern about cuts is stalling progress on drug discovery and other healthcare innovations. More
Bio & Life Sciences Community Insights Science
Elon Musk’s latest venture, the recently-launched startup Neuralink, aims to merge mind and machine using brain-computer interface technology. Some commentators are dismissing its vision as pure hype. But buzz matters—we need such hype for radical tech innovation. More
Bio & Life Sciences Healthcare
Unlike other tiny mammals, bats and mole-rats live especially long lives. Now scientists are starting to understand why. At a time when interest in longevity is massive and growing, their answers might point the way toward useful knowledge about how we ourselves could last a bit longer. More
Bio & Life Sciences Community Insights Healthcare
At IndieBio we see hundreds of biotech startups and technologies, and a few key themes are emerging for 2017. Fiction is becoming a reality with cell therapies. The era of the brain has arrived. And machine learning and AI are now a key part of biotech innovation. More
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