Kristen V. Brown
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Color’s New At-Home DNA Test Tells You Whether You’re At Risk For Heart Disease
Earlier this month, when consumer genetic testing giant 23andMe announced plans to roll out the first consumer test for breast cancer risk, the news attracted some hefty criticism from the medical community. Sure, consumer DNA tests allow people to find out information about their health without a potentially pricey and inconvenient visit to the doctor.…
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How Editing RNA, Not DNA, Could Cure Disease In The Future
DNA is the code of life, and so advances that allow us to edit that code have unlocked vast potential, from simply editing away the buggy code of disease, to engineering animals that don’t spread illness, to, maybe one day in a distant future, creating so-called designer babies. But editing another essential molecular component of…
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23andMe Data Shows That Kind People Might Have Empathy In Their Genes
Scientists have long been interested in understanding the underpinnings of empathy. Being able to share the feelings of another person plays a critical role in our inner lives, how we behave towards others, and the way human societies function as a whole. Harnessing the power of empathy, some suggest, could go a long way toward…
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23andMe Gets FDA Green Light To Sell First Consumer DNA Test For Cancer Risk
The US Food and Drug Administration has cleared 23andMe to sell directly to customers a DNA test for gene mutations linked to breast cancer, making it the first consumer DNA testing company to win the agency’s approval for a cancer risk screening.