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
Florida’s anti-vaccine surgeon general takes his disinformation campaign on the road with RFK, Jr., anti-vaxxers, and Nazi-promoting ‘health specialists’
Florida has much going for it, but the state’s public health system doesn’t make the list. The opprobrium is largely ...
How do we know when we need to pee? It’s surprisingly complex — and can go awry as we age
You’re driving somewhere, eyes on the road, when you start to feel a tingling sensation in your lower abdomen. That ...
Mental illness is an under-reported, post-infection consequence of COVID. Here’s what you can do to mitigate your risk.
Misguided COVID-minimizers like to say that COVID-19 is no worse than a cold that lasts a few days and then ...
With the Chevron Doctrine overturned, the new ‘judicial veto’ of regulations will be bad for science and business
A colleague and I wrote about recent Supreme Court decisions that produced sweeping changes in how government regulation works in the ...
How good is your sense of direction? Here’s why some people never get lost
Like many of the researchers who study how people find their way from place to place, David Uttal is a ...
Trump oversaw one of the great public health accomplishments of the century in the discovery of a Covid vaccine. Now he’s leading the campaign against it
More than four years ago, former President Donald Trump’s administration accelerated the development and rollout of the covid-19 vaccine. The ...
These people deliberately exposed themselves to COVID to figure out why some people are naturally immune. Here’s what we learned
Throughout the pandemic, one of the key questions on everyone’s mind was why some people avoided getting COVID, while others ...
Viewpoint: Placebo controversy — When should they ethically be used in studies?
The placebo effect is a phenomenon where individuals experience– or perceive to experience– improvements in symptoms or conditions after receiving a treatment ...
Sickle cell victim summits Killimanjaro after breakthrough gene therapy treatment
Jimi Olaghere was born with sickle cell anemia. He endured years of painful crises, fatigue, and breathing problems. This month, ...
GLP podcast: Should scientists endorse political candidates? Debate erupts over Scientific American’s support for Kamala Harris
"Vote for Kamala Harris to Support Science, Health and the Environment," Scientific American wrote in an incendiary September 16 editorial ...
The Spanish Flu killed 50 million people. It’s frightening that terrorists can create a synthetic version of the pathogen
“The Terrorism Warning Lights Are Blinking Red Again,” according to former CIA Deputy Director Mike Morell, who delivered that message ...
3.2-million-year-old Lucy may provide a lesson in the link between nudity and shame
Fifty years ago, scientists discovered a nearly complete fossilized skull and hundreds of pieces of bone of a 3.2-million-year-old female ...
Viewpoint: ‘It’s a shortsighted move that will inflame America’s disdain for science’: Scientific American breaks precedent, endorses Kamala Harris
This week, Scientific American urged readers to "Vote for Kamala Harris to Support Science, Health and the Environment." It's a ...
Viewpoint: More American Academy of Pediatrics missteps — Its questionable endorsement of allowing hormone blockers in children
The American Academy of Pediatrics warns that pesticides are endocrine-disrupting chemicals that harm children. Absurdly, AAP also endorses the use ...
The bigger the animal, the bigger its brain? Not so fast
Scientists have long believed that, generally speaking, the bigger an animal is, the bigger its brain. But our recent study challenges ...
130 lung cancer patients from six countries given experimental mRNA vaccine as study commences
The first jabs were recently administered in London. There, researchers are testing a vaccine designed to hunt down and kill ...
‘It’s a milestone’: The disease-fighting benefits of weight loss drugs
Few drugs have achieved the stardom that semaglutide, marketed in the United States as Ozempic or Wegovy, has today. A ...
GLP podcast: Youth cancer rates ‘soaring’? No. Will AI help or harm mental health care? Confronting vaccine ‘rejectionists’
The media claims that cancer rates are "skyrocketing" among young people. Experts beg to differ. Artificial intelligence is bringing major ...
Viewpoint: AAAS needs a reboot and Science needs a new editor: The creeping corruption of DEI
Dr. H. Holden Thorp, the editor-in-chief of the prestigious journal Science since 2019, recently described on Substack a discussion that occurred during ...
Viewpoint: ‘Why does it take 43 years to build a nuclear power plant and 32 years for a GM fish to see a tank? Blame government regulators joining hands with the notorious activist-legal complex
America continues to lead the world in science and technology, but this is hardly a God-given right. Compared to the ...
Viewpoint: Nuclear power, pesticides, obesity and global warming: Examining the politics behind four contentious science debates
Gaslighting has now become a popular term again based on telling people not to believe what their lying eyes are telling them ...
28 years of research: Rebuking claims by many environmental groups, cell phones do not cause cancer
A systematic review into the potential health effects from radio wave exposure has shown mobile phones are not linked to ...
GLP podcast: AI will depersonalize medicine? Ozempic might boost sex drive; Supreme Court a threat to science?
Artificial intelligence (AI) could improve the quality of health care in many ways, though some doctors fear it could jeopardize ...
Genetic research and consent: Revisiting the Human Genome Project and ethical concerns
One person’s DNA became the centerpiece of a genetic sequence used by biologists the world over. Did he agree to ...
Glucose monitoring wearables for type 1 diabetes sufferers are a fad for athletes, and others are following. Let’s weigh the benefits—and dangers
Blood sugar monitors (aka continuous glucose monitors or CGMs) have been ubiquitous for people with diabetes. But now they are ...
Viewpoint: ‘Dismissive of science and the real-world impact of their decisions’ — SCOTUS has taken a troubling turn against evidence and expertise
The American public's trust in the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has significantly waned in recent years. The most recent Gallup ...
Clickbait viral headlines claim that chemicals are sending cancer rates soaring. That’s not what the science says
Cancer is widely misunderstood by most people. If you talk to anyone, they would know the term cancer. Most people ...
