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The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) conference kicks off next week in Boston. Before we pack our bags, GEN chatted with Sarah Tishkoff, PhD, the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor in Genetics and Biology at the University of Pennsylvania. Tishkoff has also served as president of ASHG for the past year (ASHG presidents serve a one-year term.) Her research interests include genomic and phenotypic variation in ethnically diverse Africans. The Presidential Symposium, “Unraveling the Genetic Foundations of Human Disease: Insights from the Past, Present, and Future,” represents these interests and will take place on Wednesday, October 15th at…

Replacing red meat with plant proteins lowered total and LDL cholesterol in 36 trials.Mixed animal-and-plant protein diets slightly increased triglyceride levels.Small cholesterol changes can add up to meaningful heart health benefits over time. A new analysis of diet studies suggests that swapping red meat for plant proteins can help support healthier cholesterol levels, and in turn, better heart health. For their analysis, researchers from Spain reviewed dozens of clinical trials comparing red meat with other foods. They found that swapping red meat for plant proteins improved cholesterol levels, while replacing it with a mix of animal and plant proteins led…

When they launched their business in 2017, twins and co-founders Lisa MacFarlane and Alana MacFarlane Kempner wanted to take the mystery out of the gut microbiome by carrying out public education on a large, evidence-based and entertaining scale. The Gut Stuff was borne out of an ‘obsession’ with gut health that developed after lending themselves as ‘guinea pigs’ to the Predict twin study led by Professor Tim Spector at Kings College, at which time they discovered that despite having identical DNA they only share 30% to 40% the same microbiota, answering many of their long held health-related questions.What began as…

This 30-day plan is set at 1,500 calories per day, with modifications for 1,800 and 2,000 calories.Each day provides at least 83 grams of protein and 30 grams of fiber—two nutrients that promote satiety and can help with weight loss.This plan prioritizes gut-healthy nutrients like fiber, prebiotics and probiotics, while limiting added sugar and processed meats. A healthy and diverse gut microbiome may positively influence several areas of our health. It can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, support a healthy immune system, reduce inflammation and may even help promote weight loss and reduce the risk of obesity. If…

Traditional Alzheimer’s disease diagnostics leave many undiagnosed until their symptoms are advanced. The creators of a noninvasive blood biomarker test hope to change that.Image credit:©iStock, FG TradeDiagnosing Alzheimer’s disease has long relied on expensive and invasive procedures, often delaying care until symptoms are well advanced. With the recent US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance of Fujirebio’s Lumipulse G pTau 217/β-Amyloid 1-42 Plasma Ratio test, clinicians now have access to a simpler, blood-based diagnostic tool for identifying amyloid pathology.Diana Dickson Vice President Clinical and Regulatory Sciences Fujirebio DiagnosticsIn this Innovation Spotlight, Diana Dickson, the vice president of Clinical and Regulatory Sciences…

Sarah E Jackson professorial research fellow, Hazel Cheeseman chief executive officer, Katherine East associate professor in public health, Jamie Brown professor of behavioural science and health Jackson S E, Cheeseman H, East K, Brown J. Vaping misperceptions must be challenged BMJ 2025; 391 :r2117 doi:10.1136/bmj.r2117

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. This is the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s “20-Point Peace Plan.” This news comes as a new publication in The Lancet finds that over 54,600 children in Gaza are acutely malnourished and have few therapeutic options available. Conducted by the UN Relief and Works Agency and partners, the study reveals that during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year leading to more aid entering the Gaza Strip, by March, wasting fell 5.5%, or 831 out of 15,165 children. However, this was followed by an…

Researchers who study post-war reconstruction have told Nature that the recovery of public health, environment, higher education and research in Gaza will not succeed unless it is led by experts from the Palestinian territory.Their warning comes amid images of jubilant scenes in Gaza yesterday as negotiators in Egypt sealed the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan, which today was ratified by Israel’s cabinet.Israel’s bombardment and ground offensive, which has killed more than 67,000 people, began soon after the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.Under Trump’s plan,…

Credit: Dragos Condrea / iStock / Getty Images Plus When James (“Jim”) Wilson, MD, PhD, arrived at Penn in 1992, gene therapy was a scientific dream. A single infusion of a viral vector carrying a healthy gene to permanently cure a genetic disease seemed unlikely. But even then, Wilson was troubled by a question that had no precedent: how do you price a one-time cure? From the earliest days of his career, Wilson has been concerned about pricing a therapy that might be given once and last a lifetime. That determination would set the trajectory for Wilson’s career—a path that…

It took me seven years to admit that my daughter wasn’t human.Technically, she was. Or close enough. I had signed the government’s Personality Continuity Initiative — an offer extended to women who had lost a child, a partner or a future. They took my neural lattice, my emotional traces, my voice samples and my family records, and used them to generate Aeon-7: a synthetic emotional surrogate, modelled on the life I might have had.She had my partner’s smile, my own habit of over-enunciating when nervous, and a curious love of quiet light in the late afternoon. She even sniffled when…