Sharon’s Recent Stories
Health Jul 18
CRISPR causes significantly greater DNA damage than previously thought, study findsThe DNA damage found in the new study included deletions of thousands of DNA bases, including at spots far from the edit. Some of the deletions can silence genes that should be active and activate genes that should be silent,…
Health Jun 16
Controversial NIH study of ‘moderate drinking’ will be terminated after scathing reportThe National Institutes of Health will shut down a controversial industry-funded study of moderate drinking and heart disease after a task force found severe ethical and scientific lapses in the study’s planning and execution, the agency’s director said Friday.
Science Jan 20
Too good to be true? Experts clash on whether hitting the gym helps the brainThere is a deep ideological schism between equally respected experts about what constitutes proof that exercise can benefit patients with mild cognitive impairment.
Health Jan 02
Too many cancer screens skew how we understand risk factors, study saysWidespread screening for "scrutiny-dependent" cancers — those for which the harder you look the more you find, and the more of what you find is harmless — causes another problem, two leading cancer experts argue in a paper published on…
Science Dec 30
3 brain technologies to watch in 2018Some tiny technologies could lead to some big advances in neuroscience in 2018. Here's what we'll be paying attention to.
Health Jun 22
Prodigy’s death shines light on slow progress against sickle cell diseaseThe death of the rap artist Prodigy (Albert Johnson) at only 42 this week, after a lifetime of suffering from sickle cell disease, was a reminder of the devastating cost of the sometimes fatal genetic disorder — and of the…
Health Apr 09
Before you send your spit to 23andMe, what you need to knowThe genetic testing company 23andMe received approval this week from regulators to sell genetic reports on an individual’s risk for 10 diseases, most prominently Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Health Mar 11
House Republicans would let employers demand workers’ genetic test resultsA House panel voted to allow employers to require workers to undergo genetic testing or risk paying a penalty of thousands of dollars.
Science Feb 16
Broad Institute wins heated dispute over CRISPR patentsThe U.S. patent office ruled on Wednesday that hotly disputed patents on the revolutionary genome-editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 belong to the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, dealing a blow to the University of California.
Science Jan 27
First human-pig chimeras spark hopes for transplantable organs — and debateThese human-pig “chimeras” were not allowed to develop past the fetal stage, but the experiment suggests such creations could eventually be used to grow fully human organs for transplant…
