23 articles from SUNDAY 29.1.2023

The human genome needs updating. But how do we make it fair?

Healthcare’s standard genome is mostly based on one American. As we enter the era of personalised medicine, this bias has drawbacks for much of the world’s populationIn June 2000, Bill Clinton, the then US president, stood smilingly next to the leaders of the Human Genome Project. “In genetic terms, all human beings, regardless of race, are more than 99.9% the same,” he declared. That was...

Survivors of childhood trauma often grow up believing they are unworthy | Andrea Szasz

Being conditioned as a child to see toxic relationships as almost normal can prevent an adult make loving connectionsThe modern mind is a column where experts discuss mental health issues they are seeing in their workWell-spoken and seemingly confident, Jane* came to therapy as a single, 55-year-old woman after a string of “toxic” relationships. In our first session, she wondered why she was...

‘It was all for nothing’: Chinese count cost of Xi’s snap decision to let Covid rip

After three years of lockdowns, the country was ill prepared for its abrupt ‘freedom’. Now, with some estimating 1m deaths, public anger is growingWhen Sunny* thinks back to March last year, she laughs ruefully at the ordeal. The 19-year-old Shanghai student spent that month locked in her dormitory, unable to shop for essentials or wash clothes, even banned from showering for two weeks over...

May I have a word about… rummaging around on the Antiques Roadshow | Jonathan Bouquet

We know the show turns up gems from the house and garden – but don’t forget the linguistic ones tooIf there is a television equivalent of comfort food, then surely it has to be the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. Presenter Fiona Bruce is a perpetual ray of sunshine, the experts are to a man and woman warm hearted and the people clutching their possessions always radiate hope that they are offering...

Plant toxin hailed as ‘new weapon’ in antibiotic war against bacteria

Scientists say albicidin has allowed them to take a giant step forward to creating a powerful new range of antibacterial drugs Scientists have discovered a plant toxin whose unique method of dispatching bacteria could be used to create a powerful new range of antibiotics. The prospect of developing new antibacterial drugs this way has been hailed by doctors, who have been warning for many years...