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DTC Company Reps Behaving Badly

Jul 26, 2010

The US Government Accountability Office recently released its findings from a sting conducted on several companies that sell direct-to-consumer genetic tests, finding that the results of such tests are often "of little or no practical use." But, writes Emily Singer in MIT's Technology Review, the most "shocking" findings come from a series of undercover phone calls made to 15 of these companies by GAO workers.

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.