When the Key to Good Genetics Research Isn't in the Genes
In the last couple of weeks, two new papers have had genetics enthusiasts buzzing: one a study that turned up 95 gene variants linked to cholesterol levels, and the other a similarly designed study of personality traits that turned up no genes at all. There must be a reason the findings came out so differently.
The American Cancer Society's Misleading New Ads
The American Cancer Society has just launched a new nationwide print and online ad campaign to raise funds for a program that screens disadvantaged women for breast and cervical cancer. This does not sound controversial until you look at one of the ads.
DNA Dilemma, Day Five: Time to Decide
After a week of soliciting experts, NEWSWEEK's Mary Carmichael is ready to decide whether or not she wants to take an at-home genetic test. Or is she?
DNA Dilemma: The Full Interview With the FDA on DTC Genetic Tests
The full transcript of Mary Carmichael's interview with FDA officials on the potential regulation of direct-to-consumer genetic tests.
DNA Dilemma, Day Four: Should Genetic Tests Be on the Market?
Will increased regulation mean that at-home genetic tests will no longer be available to consumers? As rumors swirl about imminent action from the Food and Drug Administration, our writer wonders if she should hurry up and test her DNA.
DNA Dilemma, Day Three: How Reliable Are At-Home DNA Tests?
In my weeklong quest to decide if I should have a genetic test, I now knew what I could expect to learn. But how was I going to feel about the results if I went forward and got them? Would I be able to trust them (and should I)?
DNA Dilemma Part Two: What Do Genetic Tests Show?
On day two of her investigation, NEWSWEEK's Mary Carmichael asks five experts what information take-home DNA tests can and can't find.
DNA Dilemma: Should I Take a Genetic Test?
As Congress grows closer to regulating direct-to-consumer DNA tests off the market, a NEWSWEEK reporter sets forth on a weeklong quest to determine if the tests are worth taking.
DNA Dilemma: The FAQs
By the end of the week, writer Mary Carmichael will decide whether or not to take a direct-to-consumer genetic test. Here's more information about her project.
ScienceBlogs, PepsiGate, and Institutional Content
Popular Web outlet ScienceBlogs is still trying to recover from a botched corporate sponsorship with Pepsi. But while its bloggers slowly return to work, ScienceBlogs is also expanding a noncommercial deal with academic institutes that raises questions about what "editorial integrity" really means.
The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years
Malaria kills a million people a year, most of them kids and pregnant women. Why can't we stop it? Here are some surprising conclusions—including pointed criticisms of current relief efforts as "quick fixes." Plus, like the best infectious-disease lit, it's a real creepfest.
The Little Flaw in the Longevity-Gene Study That Could Be a Big Problem
Remember that study in the journal Science from last week linking a whole bunch of genes—including unexpectedly powerful ones—to extreme old age in centenarians? NEWSWEEK reported that some of outside experts thought it sounded too good to be true, perhaps because of an error in the way the genes were identified that could cause false-positive results.
Scientists Discover the Fountain of Youth! Or Not.
A new study published in the journal Science found dozens of genes that appeared to affect whether humans can live to be 100 or older. But is the media overhyping the results?
What We Can Learn From Mobile Health Care
This RV could change the face of health care in America and solve one of the most pressing problems facing the new health-care-reform law: how to expand access while controlling costs.
The Case for Treating Drug Addicts in Prison
Treatment for drug addiction works better, and costs less, than imprisonment alone, but politically it's easier to cut treatment than punishment.
A Combo Vaccine May Cause Seizures in Kids. But Why?
Parents need not worry that the measles, mumps, and rubella injection will increase their children's risk of autism, but kids given a vaccine that also protects against chicken pox have a slightly higher risk of developing febrile seizures, the scary if ultimately harmless phenomenon that accompanies a bad fever.
Doctors, Depression, and DNA
Any given antidepressant tends to help only about a third of patients. Now a new DNA test may be able to predict what medication will be most effective based on gene variants. Sounds promising, but does it work?
Healthy Living from 35 to 49
Fifty is the new thirty -- but that doesn't mean that as you age, you can live like a college kid. Follow these simple steps to help ensure that you thrive for years to come. Plus: when should women get screened for breast cancer?
The Science of Healthy Living
When it comes to health, we're not living in the age of Too Much Information so much as the age of Not Quite Enough. Medical science has generated vast amounts of data and laypeople have more access to it than ever before. Look closely at that data, though, and it starts to seem disturbingly incomplete. We scoured the studies to find out exactly what you need at every age.
Healthy Living from 65 On
The longer the human lifespan stretches, the more doctors understand about staying healthy and vibrant into the senior years. What you need to know to make sure that you live long and live well.
How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like
Is there anyone who could resist a book about sex, food, art, and fun? Didn't think so. This book is about all those things, but what turns it from a guilty pleasure into a guiltless one is its deep understanding of philosophy, developmental psychology, and evolutionary theory. Yes, it's a science book, and a brainy one at that. But look! There's an index entry for Jennifer Aniston! So don't be scared
No Sex, Please, We're Soccer Players
There's nothing hotter than a sweaty, well-muscled athlete, unless he's fresh off play at the World Cup and happens to be from Britain or Ghana. The only scoring those guys will be doing in the next month is on the field. Their countries reportedly have banned them from sex while they're playing in the tournament, for fear that they'll waste themselves on the wrong kind of action.
FDA Director on Cracking Down on Do-It-Yourself Genome Tests
Fresh off sending stern letters to five consumer-genomics companies indicating that, as currently marketed, the companies' tests will require clearance by the FDA, Alberto Gutierrez—the agency's director of the Office of In Vitro Diagnostics in the Center for Devices and Radiological Health—spoke to NEWSWEEK.
Personal Genomics Tests to Face Regulation
The FDA has sent letters to five personal genomics companies outlining its intentions for regulation of direct-to-consumer tests, and if 23andMe thought it was having a bad week before, it's sure not going to be happy now.
In Senegal, Using Music to Fight Malaria
A pop-song contest hopes to educate African youth about preventing a deadly illness.
How the Web Affects Your Brain
The "Google makes us stoopid" argument is a perennial of modern life, and right now, it's in season. The most thorough take on the topic is Nicholas Carr's new book, "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains," but anyone who's been spending a lot of time surfing is probably going to be so distracted by e-mails and Facebook, etc., that he won't be able to finish the book.
Would Regulation Kill Consumer Genetic Testing?
It could—but the FDA and Congress also could make the burgeoning biotech industry stronger.
'Autism Doctor' Loses His Medical License
Andrew Wakefield, the sham scientist whose now-retracted 1998 paper led millions of parents to believe in a link between autism and the measles/mumps/rubella vaccine, has just lost his license to practice medicine in Britain.
The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us
Did you see that gorilla just run by? Probably not. Expanding on a psychological experiment that garnered some very surprising results, Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons challenge the confidence you have about how well you observe the world around you, and how you see yourself.