Alex Berezow
Viewpoint: ‘Fashionable nonsense’ — The deadly impact of ‘kowtowing to academia’s political zeitgeist’ in biomedicine
In August 2018, The Lancet published a curious paper, reminiscent of America’s long-forgotten Prohibition Era. The research came to a ...
Music and the mind: How can Mozart treat epilepsy?
While the claims of intelligence boosting are dubious, one assertion that sounds just as implausible but is absolutely real is ...
Viewpoint: COVID vaccine successes have made headway in rebutting facile arguments about the dangers of biotechnology
It turns out that, despite the destruction and heartbreak caused by the COVID pandemic, there is a silver lining: Scientists ...
‘If I get sick from COVID, what is the chance that I will die?’
Perhaps the most important question that each of us wants to know in regard to the coronavirus pandemic is, "Will ...
Viewpoint: Biotechnology gave us a COVID vaccine. Could that end the anti-GMO movement?
[T]he anti-GMO movement had been growing ever stronger over the years. But, if the reliably anti-GMO organization U.S. Right to ...
Why both Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines must be stored at -94°F
The good news shot around the planet within minutes: American pharmaceutical behemoth Pfizer, in collaboration with the German firm BioNTech, ...
COVID vaccine side effects are real. Here’s what you should know
There are several coronavirus vaccines that are currently in Phase 3 clinical trials. For vaccines, this final experimental stage requires ...
How the anti-GMO movement has merged with COVID conspiracists
The Organic Consumers Association, which promotes the organic industry and is a top funder of the anti-GMO conspiracy website U.S. Right to ...
Who is most vulnerable by age and race to die from COVID-19?
While coronavirus is obviously concerning and a very real threat to some people (namely, the elderly and immunocompromised), these data ...
Video: Unnatural is better—How technology keeps us healthier and living longer
American Council on Science and Health microbiologist Alex Berezow takes on one of the most pervasive myths on social media ...
Viewpoint: Lawyers win and science loses in Johnson & Johnson decision to halt US baby powder sales
Scientists say that talcum baby powder doesn't cause cancer. Trial lawyers say it does. As usual, the lawyers win. Scientists, ...
How vaccines, antivirals and antibodies could help fight the coronavirus
There has been a lot of confusion in regard to possible treatments for COVID-19 and the timeline for the development ...
Viewpoint: AARP misleads elderly about health, environmental benefits of organic food
Scaring old people is a time-tested strategy to scrounge up votes .... The coronavirus has made scamming even easier. The ...
Video: What would happen if all the world’s farmers grew organic food?
Stuck at home without your usual organic veggies? Just buy regular ones. They're safe, nutritious and might even be better ...
Viewpoint: Anti-chemical ‘activist-legal complex’ fuels public fear of scientific innovation
In his Farewell Address, President Eisenhower warned of the military-industrial complex, a partnership between the military and defense industry that ...
Viewpoint: ‘Conspiracy theorist’ Zen Honeycutt spins tall tales about GMOs, glyphosate weed killer on CBS Los Angeles
If the media has a question about biomedical science, one would assume that a scientist or doctor would be the ...
Anti-glyphosate activist Carey Gillam ‘collaborated’ with attorney charged in extortion plot
In a press release, the [Department of Justice] said that one of the lead plaintiffs' attorneys, Timothy Litzenburg, who helped ...
Viewpoint: Can we trust the research of scientists who work for corporations? Here’s what you should know
There is a pervasive bias in academia against scientists who work in industry. It is often said that such individuals ...
Viewpoint: Produce is sugary, GMO ‘poison’? Scientific American embraces long-debunked food safety tropes
The lies and distortions start early in this appalling Scientific American article -- and they keep going to the end ...
Viewpoint: Does ‘doxxing’ attack on geneticist Kevin Folta represent new low in anti-GMO attacks on scientists?
In the minds of activists, it doesn't matter that Dr. Folta never acted illegally or unethically. The only thing that ...
‘Better safe than sorry’? Precautionary thinking stokes unjustified fear of GMOs, chemicals, biologist says
“Better safe than sorry.” That’s a great lesson for a child when a parent explains why she should wear a ...
Viewpoint: We can’t ignore scientific evidence about male, female brain differences
It's obvious to just about anyone who is paying attention — and to most biologists, in particular — that there ...
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO Organic Consumers Association helps Russia spread dangerous myths raising fake concerns about vaccines and biotechnology
Russian trolls are meddling wherever and whenever they can to cause societal strife. Radio Free Europe reports that Russian trolls may have ...
AAAS fiasco just got messier—After member revolt, data-less news release linking glyphosate to kidney disease pulled, Freedom and Responsibility award will not be presented, for now
Editor's note: After this blog was posted, on February 6, the American Association for the Advancement of Science tweeted that ...
Viewpoint: New York Times’ mixed record on science literacy—botched reporting on GMOs and chemicals while challenging anti-vaxxers
The New York Times has done something that it very rarely does: It wrote an editorial in support of biotechnology. The piece, ...
Viewpoint: No, Whole Foods Magazine, there’s no plot to sneak GMOs into our food
....Last week, Whole Foods Magazine (yes, that's a thing) published an article written by a lawyer, Scott C. Tips, about an evil plan to ...
New study hyping health benefits of organic food is more marketing than science, biologist argues
How do you know when a "study" isn't really a study? When the people who performed it wrote up a ...
Scientists can identify organic and conventional milk with a simple chemistry test
Food fraud is a substantial problem....because it is nearly impossible for consumers to tell the difference between, say, conventional and ...