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Don't Believe Everything You Watch

Nov 17, 2007

The British TV program "Killer in Me," that offered four celebrities genetic tests to screen for cancer and then followed their reactions, has irritated geneticists; they claim that the show lacks context. The British Society for Human Genetics’ beef is that the tests are "unsubstantiated and unvalidated" as a way of discovering who will and will not develop the illnesses being tested for, reports the BBC.


Breaking News
The Scan

Pig Organ Transplants Considered

The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Food and Drug Administration may soon allow clinical trials that involve transplanting pig organs into humans.

'Poo-Bank' Proposal

Harvard Medical School researchers suggest people should bank stool samples when they are young to transplant when they later develop age-related diseases.

Spurred to Develop Again

New Scientist reports that researchers may have uncovered why about 60 percent of in vitro fertilization embryos stop developing.

Science Papers Examine Breast Milk Cell Populations, Cerebral Cortex Cellular Diversity, Micronesia Population History

In Science this week: unique cell populations found within breast milk, 100 transcriptionally distinct cell populations uncovered in the cerebral cortex, and more.