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Genetics

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Danielle and Leon Green at home in Western Australia with photos of their children Sonny and Airlie.

What change must come from these parents’ darkest hour

This is not simply about offering heartbroken parents closure, although it will. Greater genetic testing is also about preventing future tragedies.

  • The Herald's View

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Danielle and Leon Green at home in Western Australia.

A coroner couldn’t tell Danielle how her son died. Then she lost her daughter

After losing her two babies, Danielle Green wants genetic testing introduced in the post-mortem investigations of young people.

  • Frances Howe
KJ Muldoon after a follow up dose of an experimental gene editing treatment at the hospital in April 2025

Baby KJ was born with a rare, deadly disease. A one-of-a-kind gene tweak healed him

As KJ thrives, doctors hope the world-first treatment can someday help millions of people left behind because their genetic conditions are so uncommon.

  • Laura Ungar
Composite image of Allan Spigelman and excerpts from a letter sent by St Vincent’s Hospital to patients

Doctor accused of widespread record errors in St Vincent’s Hospital genetic cancer debacle

An eminent cancer genetics doctor has been accused of widespread errors affecting hundreds of patients at St Vincent’s hospital. 

  • Kate Aubusson
Jon Snow is reunited with his dire wolf, Ghost, in the Game of Thrones finale.

‘Good lord, this thing is huge’: Pups bred using DNA from extinct dire wolf

Two brothers – Romulus and Remus – and a younger female pup called Khaleesi, after the popular Game of Thrones character, were genetically engineered by a US lab.

  • Christina Larson
Anne Wojcicki

$9 billion wipeout: Millions of people’s DNA up for sale as 23andMe goes bankrupt

The company has collected DNA from saliva samples from more than 15 million customers around the world.

  • Wyatte Grantham-Philips
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Maddie Thwaites and Ciaran McAuley with their two-year-old daughter, Mairead.

‘I am just so thankful’: The test that let little Mairead beat the odds

The findings of a landmark genetic study bolster calls for the federal government to establish a free expanded carrier screening program.

  • Kate Aubusson
The life insurance industry has been allowed to ask for genetic screening results when issuing some policies.

Insurers banned from jacking up premiums based on your genes

People who undergo genetic testing for medical purposes will never be obliged to share their results with insurers, and insurers will not be allowed to ask.

  • Natassia Chrysanthos
NEWS: Nadine and David with Sasha Lipworth (6) who was diagnosed in October 2023 with an ultrarare genetic mutation called SLC6A1 that causes epilepsy and dementia. She is one of only two people in the world with her particular mutation.

Sasha has a disease so rare, it doesn’t have a name

An ultra-rare genetic mutation has seven-year-old Sasha Lipworth regressing into infancy. Her diagnosis this month gives her a front-row seat to the future of medicine.

  • Angus Thomson
Scientists this month identified the specific mutation causing Sasha Lipworth's regression into infancy, a first step towards an RNA therapy that could correct these issues in the future.
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Sydney family seek treatment for daughter with ultrarare disease

Scientists this month identified the specific mutation causing Sasha Lipworth's regression into infancy, a first step towards an RNA therapy that could correct these issues in the future.

Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/topic/genetics-jr4