March
Deleting genetic data held by failed firm might not stop it being sold
Cybersecurity experts say genetic testing company 23andMe could take a long time to permanently erase customers’ data once a request is made.
DNA for sale as gene testing firm 23andMe goes bankrupt
The company, which provides medical and ancestry-related analysis, filed for chapter 11 after it was unable to find a buyer to rescue it from insolvency.
January
Racing against time to beat a family’s dementia curse
Linde Jacobs and her sisters watched their mother suffer from the effects of frontotemporal dementia. They know they’re heading the same way, and want to save their daughters.
October 2024
Vic Liberals’ policy vacuum opens the door for teals
Readers’ letters on the infighting within Victoria’s opposition; federal Labor losing its way and running scared; gas supply; handouts for surgeons; and the value of mass genetic screening.
Saving Amy: how a DNA test identified cancer risk
Like other women in her family, Amy Soulsby was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. Her only regret is that she didn’t do the genome test earlier.
The plan to save Australian lives with nationwide DNA screening
An ambitious vision to introduce mass genetic testing to the entire Australian adult population is being hailed as a solution to the country’s healthcare crisis. But can the health system cope?
July 2024
The secret to ageing may lie in AP-1
Australian researchers appear to have uncovered a crucial master controller that governs the activity of human genes as we develop and age.
November 2023
How the tech crowd track their health to live longer
‘Quantified self’ is a movement where the health conscious are trying to leave nothing to chance, using the latest in technology to monitor their bodies and fitness.
May 2023
Meet the ‘pangenome’ - it could save your life one day
Until now, a European genome was the standard against which all human genomes were compared. Now, the “pangenome” aims to reflect people of all ancestries.
April 2023
This woman had a massive heart attack at 19. Now she knows why
Rhonda Ayoubi was a healthy 19-year-old university student. Then her heart stopped. Now her genome is helping others understand rare diseases.
May 2022
How gene tests are changing how we have babies
Pre-conception genetic screening can spare parents the heartbreak of losing a child to an inherited condition.
April 2022
Final piece of DNA puzzle could explain human traits, disease
The entire human genome has finally been sequenced – nearly 20 years after scientists first claimed to have made the breakthrough.
December 2021
Why Richard Dawkins should stay off Twitter
At 80, the evolutionary scientist and atheist still courts controversy, but his passion for social media could sideline his true legacy.
November 2021
If you’ve taken a DNA saliva test, you could be part of a bigger plan
Anne Wojcicki, CEO of 23andMe, wants to take on Big Pharma with the reams of personal genomic data her company has amassed.
September 2021
Meet Australia’s Brockovich, champ for the genetically discriminated
Genetic testing can open a Pandora’s box, but Jane Tiller is helping change the rules.
Cholesterol jab could transform heart disease treatment
Britain has approved use of a new ‘gene silencing’ drug that involves twice-yearly injections and could eventually replace statins.
January 2021
The secret humans hidden in our DNA
Homo sapiens did not drive the other species of humans that once lived with us on this planet to extinction; instead we simply merged with them.
December 2020
When does genomics become eugenics?
As the tools to identify human traits and manipulate them become more refined, ideas about normalcy and deviancy, fitness and disability, are subtly changing.
September 2020
New COVID-19 genomic 'radar' to track outbreaks
Science trumps state politics with the creation of Australia's first national genomic surveillance system, which will be used initially to track COVID-19.
April 2020
Two types of coronavirus were circulating in January
A genetic analysis of COVID-19 virus samples gathered from 12 countries suggests that in January, both China and the US contained “original versions” of the virus.