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
’This kind of hype is toxic’: Dissecting exaggerated claims by Colossal Sciences that it resurrected a dire wolf and the bungled reporting that followed
The images of “de-extincted” fuzzy white dog-wolf pups festooning the media this week accompany reports that are so hyped that ...
GLP spaces on X: How California’s Prop. 65 wreaks havoc on US science and industry
Sold to well-meaning California voters in 1986 as a means of protecting public health, Proposition 65 has undermined American science ...
Viewpoint: RFK, Jr. declares he will personally determine the cause of autism by September—which means he will generate rigged and fraudulent research
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised that “by September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and ...
GLP podcast: ‘Big Pharma’ owns the FDA? Challenging a cherished MAHA myth
It's a widely believed myth spread by wellness gurus, Hollywood stars, politicians and even many scientists: the pharmaceutical industry "owns" ...
Viewpoint: Trump says he’s targeting health care fraud. He’s pardoned or commuted sentences of 68 people convicted of interfering in fraud investigations
Five years ago, the CEO of one of the largest pain clinic companies in the Southeast was sentenced to more than ...
Viewpoint: Flouride bans make no scientific sense. A person would need to consume 357 liters a day of fluoridated water to risk adverse effects
It is exhausting when prominent “science personalities” spread harmful misinformation that erodes literacy and public health. Unfortunately, fluoride, which has ...
Human-to-human transmission of bird fu? It’s not far fetched
Disease forecasts are like weather forecasts: We cannot predict the finer details of a particular outbreak or a particular storm, ...
GLP podcast with Cam and Liza: Stigmatizing autism—the anti-vaccine movement’s hysteria devalues the lives of the vulnerable and the marginalized
For nearly three decades, the anti-vaccine movement has perpetuated a dangerous, science-free narrative linking vaccines to autism. Not only has ...
GLP Spaces on X: Lab leak or wet market—How government officials and the media bungled the truth about the origins of SARS-CoV-2
More than five years after COVID-19 began its global rampage, the origins of the pandemic remain uncertain. An ongoing debate ...
Viewpoint: Challenging the ‘appeal to nature’ fallacy — Arsenic is natural, acetaminophen is synthetic, everything is a chemical
We have to start with one of the most fundamentally (pun intended) misunderstood concepts: chemicals. And that’s because a lot of wellness misinformation ...
Silicon Freud: Can AI replace the couch?
Psychiatry was one of my early rotations as a third-year medical student just beginning clinical training. After years of exposure ...
GLP podcast: Greenpeace USA might go broke; RFK, Jr. fibs about measles vaccine; Marty Makary spells trouble for FDA?
Greenpeace USA just lost a $667 million defamation lawsuit over pipeline protests that might sink the infamous NGO for good ...
Fox News’ health and nutrition experts: A chiropractor, a ’natural medicine doctor’ and ‘holistic nutritionists
It’s common sense that good dietary habits have a wide variety of benefits, and the more you deviate from good ...
Defining healthy: Three uniquely effective ways to measure your health — and what it has to do with food
In the U.S., we spend almost $5 trillion on healthcare, 17.6% of our GDP — that’s $14,750 per person. And ...
Viewpoint: PFAS disinformation—How extremist environmentalists have demonized an entire class of safe-as-used properly chemicals
PFAS in cosmetics is the latest frontier for advocacy groups who have pressured regulatory agencies to ignore the scientific evidence ...
Greenpeace USA faces possible dissolution after losing $667 million defamation suit for orchestrating ‘unlawful’ demonstrations against a North Dakota pipeline project
Energy Transfer filed the colossal lawsuit in 2019, accusing Greenpeace of providing resources, including supplies, intel and training, to encourage ...
GLP podcast: DEI-addicted medical schools are jeopardizing health care—Dr. Nikki Johnson
Doctors are leaving medical school ill-equipped to do their jobs and patients–especially the poorest among us–are receiving inferior care that ...
Viewpoint: The FDA under Trump 2.0, Marty Makary and RFK, Jr.: Uncertainty threatens
What would the Food and Drug Administration look like under Martin "Marty" Makary, a Johns Hopkins surgeon, President Trump's soon-to-be ...
45% of Americans will develop osteoporosis of the knee in their lifetime. How did evolution botch this?
The groans of pain as we get up from the sofa or the sound of crunching cartilage when taking the ...
Are we alone in the universe? While many scientists believe we are unique, the magic elixirs that created human life are common
Humanity may not be extraordinary but rather the natural evolutionary outcome for our planet and likely others, according to a ...
GLP podcast: COVID contrarian at NIH—How will Stanford’s controversial economist Jay Bhattacharya impact US science innovation?
The pandemic continues to roil our political discourse as Stanford health economist Jay Bhattacharya prepares to take over as director ...
No, rhino horns are not an aphrodisiac: Dangerous delusions of ‘traditional Chinese medicine’
I recently attended a showing of Oscar-nominated short films. Most were riveting, but none more so than 'The Last Ranger,' ...
Viewpoint: Unregulated pseudo-science supplement industry poised to rake in record profits as RFK, Jr.’s health disinformation propaganda mainstreams
Last fall, before being named the senior U.S. health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Trump administration would liberate ...
What will humans be like generations from now in a world transformed by artificial intelligence (AI)
What will humans be like generations from now in a world transformed by artificial intelligence (AI)? Plenty of thinkers have ...
Is intelligent life a ‘once in a universe’ likelihood? Recalibrating the possibility of extraterrestrial life
A popular model of evolution concludes that it was incredibly unlikely for humanity to evolve on Earth, and that extraterrestrial ...
Viewpoint: ‘Only in California could coffee both cause and prevent cancer’
Welcome to California, the Wild West - geographically and otherwise. Especially when it comes to science ...
Viewpoint: Anatomy of junk science—Dissecting yet another attempt by activist scientists to ‘link’ vaccines to autism
A newly published study is being widely circulated, purportedly showing a link between vaccines and autism. A closer look at ...
