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
Are geniuses more likely to commit crimes than people of average intelligence?
“Our society tends to regard as a sickness any mode of thought or behavior that is inconvenient for the system ...
Will glow-in-the-dark materials someday light our cities?
Around the year 1603, Italian shoemaker and amateur alchemist Vincenzo Casciarolo tried smelting some especially dense stone he had found ...
GLP Podcast: Academic freedom has limits? UK backtracks on neonic ban; ‘Non-GMO’ tearless onions
Does academic freedom protect professors who spread scientific nonsense online? The UK appears to be backtracking on a pesticide ban ...
Infographic: How is surrogacy regulated around the world?
Surrogacy regulation can differ wildly from state to state and country to country. Take a look at these infographics to ...
Dangerous environmental neurotoxins are on the rise and climate change could make it worse. Can anything be done?
In the summer of 2021, a toxic, smoky haze stemming from Western wildfires wafted across large parts of the United States, ...
Determining when life biologically begins is too fuzzy to give clarity to the abortion debate
I’m a biologist. A neuroscientist, actually. Since I received my PhD in Biological Psychology from the University of Chicago, I’ve ...
GLP Podcast: 10 ‘stupid’ food memes; COVID drugs are here; What makes someone a narcissist?
People believe a lot of nonsense about food and farming; let's debunk the top-10 worst of these "truisms." The FDA ...
Ongoing dispute over the origins of COVID-19 raises a prickly question: Should consensus play a role in science?
After having been told for over a year that there was a scientific consensus that Covid had a natural origin ...
5 human species that played a role in our evolutionary history
We’re so used to the idea of being the only people around that it seems outlandish to think that not ...
YouTube’s anti-vax ban: Necessary public health measure or unjustified censorship?
YouTube triggered an uproar [recently], announcing that it would take “down several video channels associated with high-profile anti-vaccine activists including ...
GLP Podcast: CRISPR biosensors; Engineered gut microbes; Anti-GMO groups love the lab-leak theory
Researchers have developed a biosensor they say can monitor the activity of CRISPR gene editing in real-time. Synthetic biology is ...
How did this acupuncture study get published in Nature?
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, an unfortunately all-too-common topic for me was the proliferation of dubious acupuncture ...
Molnupiravir vs paxlovid: What’s the difference between the two approved COVID antivirals?
Following the FDA's granting of Emergency Use Authorization to Merck's molnupiravir and Pfizer's Paxlovid, the only two approved direct-acting antiviral ...
What makes narcissists tick?
Chances are you’ve met a narcissist. Someone who thinks they’re better than everyone else, dominates the conversation and loves the ...
Viewpoint: mRNA and synthetic biology offer rays of hope after Annus Horribilis
The season of retrospectives is upon us. The past year will be long remembered with dismay and sadness, as the four horsemen—war, famine, pestilence and plague—each had robust ...
From Egyptian mummy dust to cow pus, disease treatments have come a very long way
Back in the 18th century, it was a wonder how anyone ever survived a trip to the doctor. Many didn’t ...
How Watson and Crick predicted the origin of Omicron and laid the groundwork for COVID-19 vaccines
The tantalizing final sentence to James Watson and Francis Crick’s landmark 1953 paper in Nature introducing the genetic material, DNA, ...
COVID spurred a slew of junk science. Here are the top 6 coronavirus related stories of 2021
Just as it did last year, the most dangerous pandemic in a century spawned all sorts of junk science in ...
Two years after Wuhan: Why Omicron is a ‘blindsiding riptide’
Next Tuesday, December 21, marks two years since the China CDC Weekly acknowledged the first “cluster of pneumonia cases with an unknown ...
GLP Podcast: Coming soon — USDA ‘bioengineered’ labels; Scientific American strays from science; Schools teach anti-GMO falsehoods
The USDA's mandatory bioengineered food labels will begin to appear on many more products next month. What can consumers expect ...
Will we need to get annual COVID booster shots for the rest of our lives?
Some vaccines are one-and-done, like measles. Others are annual events, like the seasonal flu. There's new data as to where ...
Genetics and race: An awkward conversation during volatile times
Discussing inter-group divergence is largely taboo. So do we just ignore the deluge of data? ...
GLP Podcast: Chemical risks doubled in five years? Vaccines from plants; Henrietta Lacks’ stolen cells
A recent meta-analysis has alleged that the health risks linked to chemical exposure have doubled in the last five years ...
More than 5,000 US children recovered from COVID — then the virus roared back at life-threatening levels. Here’s what we know
Like most other kids with covid, Dante and Michael DeMaino seemed to have no serious symptoms. Infected in mid-February, both ...
How soon will we be able to breed allergy-free cats?
Amy Bitterman, who teaches at Rutgers Law School in Newark, gets enormous pleasure from her three mixed-breed rescue cats, Spike, ...
Climate change-induced health problems and deaths are accelerating
Health problems tied to climate change are all getting worse, according to two reports published [October 20]. The annual reports ...
GLP Podcast: At-home dementia test raises concerns; mRNA flu vaccines? Chemical-free pesticides
A new at-home dementia test may help predict your risk of cognitive impairment late in life, though some experts fear ...
