Human Features
The GLP tackles innovations in human genetics and biotechnology. We highlight the work of our own writers, as well as that of contributors from around the Web. The GLP does not take a position on genetics-related issues; any opinions expressed belong to the authors.
Categories include:
- CRISPR and gene editing
- Gene therapy
- Stem cell research
- Genetic diseases
- Synthetic biology
- Epigenetics
- Biodrugs (pharmacogenetics)
- Personal genomics
- Ancestry and evolution
- Ethics and regulations
Viewpoint: Study links childhood vaccination to autism!!! Here’s how anti-vaxxers twist evidence to corrupt science
A viral post on X claims the “largest vaccinated vs. unvaccinated birth cohort study ever” found vaccinated children far sicker ...
AI data centers and water usage: It’s a genuine and growing problem
This story was originally published by Knowable Magazine. “Protect our water,” “Water for people not AI,” “Don’t mess with our ...
Viewpoint: How to ecologically damage America’s forests: Ban glyphosate
A recent Mother Jones’ investigation ran under the headline “We Are Bombarding America’s Forests With Roundup.” The authors claim that ...
Viewpoint: Dubious environmental fears: Why the AI buildout is critical to America’s ecological future
Opposition to artificial intelligence has intensified over the past year. A majority of Americans worry that AI will kill jobs, ...
AI is helping develop new vaccines
In the early 2000s, immunologist Bali Pulendran started his lab at Emory University to explore the mechanisms underlying vaccine-mediated immunity ...
Viewpoint: Trump-RFK Jr. report on “Gender Ideology & Left-wing Ideology’ targets LGBTQ community—and science
A new study from the Trump administration is sending alarm bells through pro-democracy groups for its potential to fuel a ...
Viewpoint: What’s the likely impact when the EPA loosens rules limiting methane pollution from oil and gas wells?
This story was originally published by ProPublica. The Trump administration is poised to loosen environmental restrictions on oil and gas wells ...
Viewpoint: Childhood deaths in dispute: Why the CDC vs Pennsylvania conflict over measles vaccines matters
If you’ve been following the dispute between Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy ...
Viewpoint: Emotion-driven stories of doctors allegedly ignoring patient concerns are driving vaccine hesitancy
As long as there have been vaccines, there have been people who doubted their science and safety. Back in 19th-century ...
Viewpoint: Bad science—Five bogus Trump administration claims about vaccines and autism
[On August 10, 2026], the president signed an unprecedented executive order declaring the administration’s intention to massively overhaul the vaccine ...
“Hit the brakes”: Anthropic warns the race to superintelligence could spawn internet-seizing AI swarms—and empower authoritarians. Here’s how to stop it.
I have worked on AI for the last twelve years because I believe it could dramatically raise the quality of ...
Leucovorin for autism: Prescriptions surged 700% after Trump endorsed “a random drug that probably doesn’t work”
Following a White House press conference suggesting leucovorin as a treatment for autism in September 2025, and despite a lack ...
It’s not 2020, but COVID is still a health threat
A mom in my local parent group posted last week asking whether anyone else had recently had COVID. She’d just ...
Allergic to dogs? A CRISPR solution may be in the works
For people who love dogs but can’t escape the sneezes, hives, and watery eyes around man’s best friend, scientists may ...
Con game: What happens when people are overly concerned they may be suckered
This story was originally published by Knowable Magazine. Which would make you feel worse — losing $100 to a pickpocket ...
Viewpoint: Nazi chic? Trump’s Space Force crosses the line from militarism to parody
President Donald Trump's newly proposed Space Force uniform has sparked comparisons to Nazi military attire as the science fiction movie ...
Viewpoint: Realpolitik environmentalism is on the horizon
When was the last time you heard someone call themselves an “environmentalist”? A decade ago, self-professed environmentalists would proudly claim ...
Zero: That is the official American measles death toll for 2026. Here is what RFK Jr.’s CDC leaves out.
The Centers for Disease Control’s weekly measles report is supposed to be a scientific record, not an opportunity to score ...
Viewpoint: How NBC became climate activists’ PR partner and litigation ally—and why it is a symptom of a deeper ideological tilt in the news media
Suncor v. Boulder County, which the Supreme Court will hear this term, asks whether a Colorado county can sue two ...
Innovation vs. regulation? AI is revolutionizing biotechnology—but raising unintended risks and ethical concerns
The recent announcement of novel, viable viruses created by artificial intelligence (AI) was celebrated as a major advance in the ...
Viewpoint— ‘Only when it agrees with him’: How RFK Jr. bullies journals that run research that contradicts his anti-vaccine ideology
The U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services is once again questioning a publisher on an editorial action regarding a ...
The $100 genome: What breaking this accessibility barrier means for the future of genetic testing
In May 2022, Californian biotech Ultima Genomics announced that its UG 100 platform was capable of sequencing an entire human ...
Viewpoint: Assessing and dissecting digital disinformation
Recent reports have highlighted AI-generated “doctors” spreading dubious health advice to millions of social media users. Fabricated wellness trends can ...
Viewpoint: Will Trump’s politicization of science undermine U.S. Nobel-level research?
This story was originally published by ProPublica. For decades, physicists wrestled with a fundamental mystery of the universe. They wanted ...
AI data-center controversy: The ocean may solve the political and resource challenges—or simply relocate the environmental costs
The artificial intelligence boom is driving unprecedented demand for data centers, raising concerns about their growing energy consumption, water use ...
The politics driving Trump’s medically baseless order to break up combination childhood vaccines
President Donald Trump has ordered a reduction in childhood vaccines — publicly faulting the shots for an increase in autism ...
FDA-approved mRNA flu vaccine signals future for RNA therapeutics
Vaccines have been reliably and affordably protecting people from diseases worldwide for centuries. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, however, vaccine development was ...
