Read article – Cites a study conducted by researchers at the Geisel School of Medicine that found that residences of ALS patients in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine are clustered near lakes or rivers with frequent cyanobacterial blooms.

Read article – Jay Buckey, professor of medicine and adjunct professor of engineering, will be the keynote speaker at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center’s annual Aerospacefest in Concord, N.H., on Saturday. Buckey spent approximately six months in space as a payload specialist aboard the Neurolab Mission, STS-90. After completing this mission, Buckey has continued to research human physiology and psychology on long-duration space missions–essential knowledge for future voyages.

Read article – Continued coverage of an opinion piece by Norman Paradis, professor of medicine, in which he discusses how California law enforcement announced the possible capture of a long-sought serial killer using public DNA databases, and how the event highlights that when you send off a cheek swab to one of the private genome companies, you may sacrifice not just your own privacy but that of your family and your ancestors. (Picked up by LiveScience and Alternet.)

Read article – Quotes Norman Paradis, professor of medicine, and H. Gilbert Welch, professor of medicine and of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, in an article about how online companies are trying to drive a revolution in lab testing by making it possible for you to skip the doctor and test for fertility, sleep hormones and even vitamin deficiencies with no lab visit required. “A lot of this kind of huxterist testing is keying off of the placebo effect,” says Paradis.

Read article – An opinion piece by Norman Paradis, professor of medicine, in which he discusses how California law enforcement announced the possible capture of a long-sought serial killer using public DNA databases, and how This the event highlights that when you send off a cheek swab to one of the private genome companies, you may sacrifice not just your own privacy but that of your family and your ancestors. (Picked up by San Francisco Chronicle and WTOP.)

Read article – Continued coverage of Samir Soneji, assistant professor of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, about research he led that found that some cigarette-smoking adults in the U.S. were able to quit with the help of e-cigs, but it also revealed that 81 times as many adolescents and young adults who used e-cigs eventually moved on to a regular smoking habit. (Picked up by Miami Herald, The Kansas City Star, Bristol Herald Courier, Herald Times Online, and The Eagle.)

Read article – Quotes James Bernat, the Louis and Ruth Frank Professor of Neuroscience and active emeritus professor of neurology and medicine, in an article about the prospect of a lab-grown brain and how ethically risky it could become. “I do not think scientists will ever develop a lab-grown brain organoid that would have enough neurological function to be considered a person,” says Bernat. Though he also noted that “whether brain organoids of the future will ever develop neurological functions is highly questionable.”

Read article – Quotes Samir Soneji, assistant professor of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, about research he led that found that some cigarette-smoking adults in the U.S. were able to quit with the help of e-cigs, but it also revealed that 81 times as many adolescents and young adults who used e-cigs eventually moved on to a regular smoking habit.