I Tried a DNA-Optimized Skincare Routine—and I Was Allergic to It
The pitch was a skincare routine designed especially for me, genetically optimized to give me the skin I was “born to…
Genealogy Tourism Is Booming as Americans Search for Identity in DNA and Abroad
Liza Lizarraga has spent hours combing through paper and digital archives to track her family’s history the…
Mistletoe Somehow Survives Without Protein Needed by All Other Multicellular Life
Mistletoe might be a nice yuletide decoration, but it’s also a nefarious, parasitic badass that preys upon a series of…
I DNA Tested My Cat and She Was Not Happy About It
I was crawling around on the floor, chasing my cat, Avalanche, as she artfully wriggled away from me over and over…
Report: A DNA Testing Company Could Not Tell the Difference Between Human and Dog DNA
Dog may be man’s best friend, and even genetically similar to humans, to boot, but there are enough key differences…
Report: Police Forced a DNA Testing Company to Share a Customer’s Identity in the Golden State Killer Case
When investigators revealed last week that a genealogy website had played a major role in catching alleged Golden State…
What the Golden State Killer Case Reveals About Your Genetic Privacy
The identity of the Golden State Killer, a notorious serial killer who terrorized California in the 1970s and 1980s,…
Largest Study of Its Kind Identifies 44 Genetic Risk Factors for Depression
Depression is a tricky beast. Symptoms vary widely from person to person, as does the response to treatment. But…
How a Massive Effort to Sequence Genomes of 1.5 Million Species Could Help Preserve Life on Earth
In what will undoubtedly be the largest genomic sequencing effort of all time, an international consortium of…
Forget the Double Helix—Scientists Discovered a New DNA Structure Inside Human Cells
Guided by the work of Rosalind Franklin, James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the the twisted-ladder structure of…
An FDA Panel Just Recommended an Epilepsy Drug Made from Cannabis
This year, the Food and Drug Administration is joining stoners the world over in celebrating 4/20.
This Gene-Editing Breakthrough Could Provide Hyper-Specific Cancer Diagnoses
Ever since researchers first discovered that bacterial immune systems could be hijacked to selectively change DNA in…
This Tattoo Only Becomes Visible When It Detects Early Signs of Disease
In the future, tattoos may no longer be mere decorative statements for the body, but useful biomedical devices that can…
Researchers Trying to Map Every Cell in the Human Body Release First Data Set
Science textbooks will tell you that the human body has just a couple hundred types of cells. But efforts to catalog…
23andMe Is Working to Make DNA Data More Diverse
When you mail off a sample of your spit to find out about your ancestry, companies like 23andMe compare your DNA to…
Goldman Sachs Analysts Question Whether Curing Patients Is Good for Business
Recent advancements in science and medicine have put cures within reach for diseases that have long plagued humankind.
Report: FDA Launches Investigation Into Research by Peter Thiel-Backed Herpes Vaccine Company
The Food and Drug Administration has launched a criminal investigation into an offshore herpes research trial that…
An Indian State Is Building a Massive, Blockchain-Based DNA Database
India’s eighth largest state is seeking to build a blockchain-based DNA database of all 50 million of its citizens.
Scientists Edit Thousands of Genes at Once With Upgraded CRISPR
When the gene-editing technology CRISPR first made a splash back in 2012, it foretold a future in which curing…
23andMe CEO Compares DNA Tests to at-Home Pregnancy Tests, but It's Not That Simple
In a provocative opinion published Monday in STAT, 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki argues that home DNA test customers don’t…
