GLP podcast/video: Too much cleanliness makes us sick? Protect your genetic data; Against ‘green-neocolonialism’

fallacies
Good hygiene is important, but too much of it might be contributing to chronic disease in developed countries. A data breach at 23andMe has geneticists and cybersecurity experts speculating about the dangers of amassing genetic data online. Are environmental activists colonizing Africa by trying to ban GM crops and synthetic pesticides from the continent?

Podcast:

Video:

Join hosts Dr. Liza Dunn and GLP contributor Cameron English on episode 251 of Science Facts and Fallacies as they break down these latest news stories:

Personal hygiene is a simple but essential tool in the never-ending battle to prevent the spread of disease. But as with everything, balance is key. Recent research suggests that wealthy societies are too clean: our zealotry to avoid germs has prevented our immune systems from learning how to fight potentially harmful microbes we’re routinely exposed to. The result, according this hypothesis, is chronic, low-grade inflammation which may contribute to a whole host of illnesses, including heart disease and stroke.

Late last year, hackers breached some 14,000 23andMe accounts by acquiring user passwords. Although no information stored on the website was stolen, hackers ultimately gained access to the ancestry data of nearly seven million users, and related health records in a subset of cases. The scandal has raised important questions about how individuals can protect their DNA data, not just from would-be thieves but also corporations and governments that may legally access the information. For instance, how do you stop a health care provider from sharing your genetics with a pharmaceutical company for marketing purposes?

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Activist groups have alleged for decades that agriculture companies “hook” farmers in developing countries on their expensive but ineffective biotech seeds and synthetic pesticides. This arrangement, they claim, gives Western companies control of food production in these nations, enslaving them to “Big Ag.” But what if it’s the other way around? The same groups that complain about Western colonialism actively lobby governments in Africa and Asia to ban modern agricultural tools—often against the wishes of farmers and consumers in those countries. If anybody is shackling the developed world, it just might be the environmental activists who claim to speak for people on the other side of the world.

Dr. Liza Dunn is a medical toxicologist and the medical affairs lead at Bayer Crop Science. Follow her on X @DrLizaMD

Cameron J. English is the director of bio-sciences at the American Council on Science and Health. Visit his website and follow him on X @camjenglish

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