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: Modern humanity is only 300,000 years along. Does that explain why we screw up so much?
How can humans have gotten so far, but still have so many problems? We are a young species. We are ...
Will you get a hangover after a night of heavy drinking? Genetics is key
After a good night out you may not be surprised when you wake up feeling rough the next morning. But ...
Viewpoint: Existential ethics — Pondering the extinction of the global human population
Why would it be so bad if our species came to an end? It is a question that reveals our ...
Viewpoint: People spread chemophobic drivel about ‘dangerous chemicals’ that science says are safe as used — then continue to drink alcohol
Thanks largely to the press and some radical environmental groups most people are terrified of chemicals because they can give ...
Why did Ellie in the Last of Us not succumb to Cordy, the zombie virus? Stem cells might explain it, and that could yield real-life vaccines
It’s unsettling to watch The Last of Us, in which parasitic fungi turn humanity into flesh-eating zombies, just as the ...
Faith genes? Can DNA predispose us to religion and spirituality?
Do our genes predispose us to follow a religion? I searched Google Scholar for reports on the inheritance of religiosity ...
Could CRISPR be replaced by an AI-powered gene editing tool?
A new study has developed what the researchers call the "world's first" simple, modifiable proteins. Called "zinc fingers," these special ...
CRISPR gene doping: The next ‘big issue’ in world athletics
In 2020, the Polish developer CD Projekt Red launched Cyberpunk 2077, a video game that pulled players in to a ...
Top 10 anti-biotech propagandizers: Who are the science deniers and snake oil peddlers undermining science in agriculture and medicine?
Anti-science beliefs are proliferating, particularly on the biotechnology and genetics front, covering a range of issues from vaccine denialism to ...
Sweet genes: Why so many people are ‘practically programmed’ to love sugar
The sweetness of sugar is one of life’s great pleasures. People’s love for sweet is so visceral, food companies lure ...
Not out of the woods on COVID threats: Animal reservoirs of SARS-CoV-2 pose unknown risks to humans
The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the most devastating events in public health in the U.S. over the last ...
Viewpoint: Why health care based on race is so problematic
Choosing a medical treatment based on patient traits historically used to define races is fundamentally flawed, because race in the ...
Ancient human DNA ethics: ‘Who gives consent for study participants long gone — and who should speak for them today?’
The 2022 Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine has brought fresh attention to paleogenomics, the sequencing of DNA of ancient ...
Stretching human life span to 200 years? Implications of bowhead whale study
A major player in the anti-genetic engineering nutritional industry is behind longevity studies on whales, that might lead to the ...
Viewpoint: No, your water bottle does not pose a danger to your health — Here’s how HuffPost misrepresents the science on safe plasticizers
We’ve often heard that economics is the “dismal science.” That phrase also seems like an apt description of claims used ...
Humans are ill equipped to handle freezing cold — so why do so many of us live in chilly climates?
Humans are a tropical species. We have lived in warm climates for most of our evolutionary history, which might explain ...
Genomic scars: How centuries of surviving antisemitism has shaped Jewish genetics
Between election news and the ever-earlier encroachment of Christmas, an important November anniversary of a horrific event goes mostly unnoticed: ...
Rethinking humanity’s origin story: Did all modern humans evolve from East Africa?
New evidence is prompting researchers to rethink Homo sapiens’ origin story—and what it means to be human ...
De-extinction: The Second Coming
Ten years ago it burst into mainstream popular life: the possibility of resurrecting extinct species ...
GLP podcast and video: Low-carb diets cause heart disease? Economic de-growth or ‘green’ growth?
Many people have turned to low-carb diets as a way to shed unwanted body fat, but a new study suggests ...
Three years after WHO declared COVID a global emergency, Americans remain sharply divided over pandemic truths and myths
Trust in public health officials declined over the course of the pandemic, particularly among Republicans. Over the course of the ...
5 traits in modern humans that trace back to our distant ancestry
Many of us are returning to work or school after spending time with relatives over the summer period. Sometimes we ...
GLP podcast and video: Eating bugs safe? Pesticide use exploding? COVID and trust in science
The European Union is all too happy to allow consumers to eat potentially dangerous bug-based food, yet it remains hostile ...
How might we adapt to fast-changing global temperatures? 2-million year old ‘environmental DNA’ offers clues
The reconstruction of a once-living landscape in northern Greenland from 2 million years ago, deduced from bits of DNA bound ...
Viewpoint: ChatGPT gets a lot wrong or garbled. That doesn’t mean it’s not useful.
It doesn’t take much to get ChatGPT to make a factual mistake ...
Viewpoint: ‘Health impact of chemicals doubled in last 5 years’? Media misreporting flawed studies misleads the public
“Plastics and pesticides: Health impacts of synthetic chemicals in US products doubled in last 5 years, study finds," a July ...
Reassessing the East Palestine chemical scare: How dangerous is vinyl chloride?
News coverage of the East Palestine train derailment has ranged from hysteria to hysteria. One would think that one of ...
