Zeid Hamadeh, PhD

African genomes are both under- and misrepresented in sequencing studies and genomic databases worldwide. This has huge implications for how equitable precision medicine research is. Our ability to identify specific clinical biomarkers and prescribe drugs to treat a patient based on their genetic makeup is directly dependent on the size... [Read More]

The age-old question “nature versus nurture” has baffled brilliant minds for centuries. Are we the product of the DNA we inherit from our parents or the environment they produce for us? In favour of the later, English philosopher John Locke argued that people are born a “blank slate” shaped entirely... [Read More]

When I was young, it was subtly noticeable that my brother had different eye color, hair colour and height to myself and our parents. So, I used to joke that he was adopted because from an early age without understanding any concepts of genetics we very intuitively get that we... [Read More]

Cancer is a disease of the genome1. The human genome is constantly challenged to repair mistakes caused by internal and external stressors to avoid genetic alterations that may disrupt gene function and perturb normal cell growth2-5. Cells that have acquired the ability for unregulated cell division proliferate indefinitely and acquire... [Read More]

Misleading metaphors can create an imaginary battlefield for the so-called “war on cancer,” and can also feed into conspiracy theories about the existence of a cure, but one that is much less profitable than the massive amount of money being spent in the search for a cure. When Nixon declared... [Read More]