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Only Goes So Far

Sep 11, 2009

In the UK's Prospect magazine, Mark Henderson discusses the fallibility of consumer genetic testing and says that "the worth of examining up to 1m of the 6bn DNA letters in a human genome is uncertain." Namely, he points out that the test results discuss the consumer's risk of disease, can be inconsistent between the various platforms, and can change with new knowledge. "Personal genomics will reveal much, but only so much," he says.

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.