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
Cracking cancer’s code: How science is weaponizing our immune system to target aggressive brain tumors
When Senator John McCain was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2017, it brought sudden national attention to a cancer few had ...
Viewpoint: Gutting the FDA—What’s at stake for public health
Recent reorganizations and "reductions in force" at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have damaged the very backbone of our ...
With malaria ravaging East Africa at a rising rate, European and U.S. backed anti-vaxxers target lifesaving vaccines
In early April, at the national launch of Uganda's malaria vaccine, 31-year-old Caroline Akot cradled her 9-month-old child, who had ...
Malaria and Africa: Could gene-edited gene drives contain the scourge or are they an ecological threat and a boon to global corporations?
Fifteen African countries are involved in a globally-funded project to test a developing technology known as gene drives to control ...
Viewpoint: ‘Forever chemical’ hustle—The ‘dark money’—environmental group—tort lawyer alliance that is scaring the public about PFAS chemicals and filling activist coffers
The mainstream media is being inundated with articles about “forever chemicals” invading our bodies and the environment. It is meant ...
Viewpoint: The wellness industry is rife with bad science and fraud. It’s gaining traction
The wellness Industry has made a business of scaring people into thinking they are at risk from the benign and ...
Viewpoint: Here’s how the MAGA—liberal ‘wellness warriors’ science disinformation ecosystem works
Tired of seeing evidence get steamrolled by vibes and wellness profiteering? Me too. We are currently living in an era ...
Gametes? Embryo? Fetus? There are 17 timepoints when a human life might begin
I wish that I could stop reposting this essay – I do so whenever limitations on women’s reproductive rights become ...
Viewpoint: More a vibe than a coalition—RFK, Jr. rose to popularity with the support of gadflies, conspiracists and crystal healers. Are they turning on him?
After the Senate voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary, supporters of his “Make ...
No, farmers who use agricultural chemicals do not have higher cancer rates
There is now scientific consensus that pesticides cause cancer among farmers. This conclusion has been confirmed by the courts insofar ...
GLP Spaces on X: End public science funding—sensible policy or sheer madness?
Is it time to eliminate public funding for scientific research? It's an undeniably radical proposal, but one supporters say is ...
X, Y, sex and gender: When genetics pulls a fast one
The spectrum of information that can be obtained by prenatal testing is wide and rapidly increasing. Many mutations, or "abnormalities," ...
GLP podcast: Common sense ‘out the window.’ Whistleblower Jamie Reed challenges safety, efficacy of ‘gender-affirming care’
We've all heard the claims about gender-affirming care. The effects of puberty blockers are reversible; most experts agree that medically ...
Viewpoint: Food dyes? Herbicides? Vaccines? … Water? Yes, they are all toxic depending upon the circumstances so beware of scare claims
We are back at it with the next edition of Fundamental Elements, a new section of ImmunoLogic. The goal? Break ...
Viewpoint: Junk science—The corrupting dangers of predatory journals, absent peer review and ideologically-tainted research
Unfortunately, junk science is quite common. Myriad systemic pressures have led to this point, but we now must face the ...
Viewpoint—Undermining science: RFK, Jr.’s war on expertise
During the Senate confirmation hearings earlier this year, it became clear that the man nominated by Donald Trump to become ...
GLP spaces on X: Graying Lady—How the New York Times and other outlets lost America’s trust
The public's faith in journalism has cratered over the last two decades. "Americans continue to register record-low trust in the ...
GLP podcast: NPR’s chemophobic hypocrisy; Could MAGA stifle mRNA vaccine progress? AI could shift human evolution
After years of flogging one chemical scare after another, NPR has abruptly changed its tune, defending Girl Scout cookies against ...
’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 ...
