Lack of diversity in donor sperm; AI can flag skin cancer with almost 100% accuracy; 12 DNA variations linked to suicide - Morning Medical Update

Lack of diversity in donor sperm

Commercial sperm banks in the United States lack racial and ethnic diversity, according to a new study. Only 10.9% of donors were Hispanic and 3.3% of donors were Black. Asian donors were overrepresented at 21.9% while only making up 6.5% of the U.S. population. "Next steps will be figuring out why this is happening and how to address it," Valerie L Baker, MD, director in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Lutherville, Maryland said in a statement.

AI can flag skin cancer with almost 100% accuracy

A new artificial intelligence program can detect skin cancer almost 100% of the time, researchers from the UK say. The program caught 59 out of 59 melanomas and 189 out of 190 total skin cancers. The one case missed was caught by a dermatologist. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in America with one in five Americans developing it by age 70.

12 DNA variations linked to suicide

The largest ever genetic study of suicide determined that there are 12 DNA variations linked to suicide. The study included almost 1 million people worldwide across 22 populations. "The next step for our research is to better understand how the genetic risks we have identified interact with environmental factors to increase or decrease the risk for suicide," Anna Docherty, PhD, the study’s corresponding author said in a statement.