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
How endangered great apes provide a crucial window into human evolution — and why we should help preserve these species
When I was a kid, every trip to the zoo featured a visit to the orangutan habitat. I was fascinated ...
You don’t have to be a COVID vaccine rejectionist to want to fully understand the nonspecific effects (NSE) of vaccines
The world’s attention is presently focused on the mRNA vaccines, which may turn out to be the most revolutionary vaccines ...
Epstein-Barr virus link? Tantalizing clues suggest EBV potentially triggers COVID long-haul symptoms
COVID-19 has already broken all the rules. Since when does a virus make people lose their sense of taste and ...
Extreme heat and evolution: We adapted to handle a vast range of temperatures but current conditions are pushing limits
Heat waves are the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States, not the more photogenic windstorms and floods. Hotter ...
GLP Podcast: Animal gene editing moves ahead in Russia; Biotech eliminates flavorless produce; Edible cholera vaccine coming soon?
Russia wants to produce allergen-free milk using animal gene editing. How much progress have they made? If you're bored with ...
‘Grizzled level-headedness’: As we age, we have fewer but more satisfying social contacts and are emotionally happier
When we are young, our skills tend to improve with age and experience. But once we are well into adulthood, ...
How Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and anti-vaxxers misrepresent the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) to scare people about COVID shot ‘dangers’
Convincing a parent that vaccines won't harm their children can be a near-possible task these days. As pediatric infectious disease ...
GLP Podcast: ‘It’s banned in Europe’ fallacy, debunked; Conversation’s bad glyphosate article; Fighting pregnancy stress
If a pesticide is banned in Europe, does that make it dangerous? Nope. Typically an excellent source of science commentary, ...
Is Prevagen the ‘silver bullet’ supplement to treat Alzheimer’s disease? Distinguishing hope from hype in the battle against cognitive decline
The avalanche of TV ads for Prevagen that coincided with my reaching Medicare age has inspired me to investigate what’s ...
How did Taiwan go from fortress impregnable to Asia’s COVID hotspot?
In September 2020, I arrived in Taiwan on a flight from New York. I had read much about the border ...
Bereitschaftspotential effect: Brain-to-computer interfaces are all the rage, but legal issues about how and why we act complicate risks
As I’ve written recently, a spate of devices enabling people with quadriplegia to move their extremities have been approved by ...
Viewpoint: Eric Lander is the first geneticist to direct US science policy. Here’s how he can harness the biotechnology revolution
Eric Lander—geneticist, mathematician, president and founding director of the Broad Institute— took the helm on June 2 as director of the Office of Science and ...
Pregnant women’s brains show troubling signs of stress – but feeling strong social support can break those patterns
Even before the pandemic, there was plenty for expectant mothers to worry about. Pregnant women must withstand a barrage of ...
What our embattled world looks like through the ‘eyes’ of SARS-CoV-2
I’m tired of writing about COVID from a geneticist’s point of view, so I thought I’d let a virus speak ...
Rafting events: How did animals disperse around the world to seed evolution? Here is one possible scenario
Humans evolved in Africa, along with chimpanzees, gorillas and monkeys. But primates themselves appear to have evolved elsewhere – likely ...
Viewpoint: What’s the future of individualized medicine when you factor in ‘racial’ and genetic differences?
COVID-19 has put race-based health disparities on full display, but such inequities extend far deeper than the current pandemic. An ...
GLP Podcast: Cell-based breast milk; Joe Mercola’s awful COVID book; More mRNA drugs coming soon?
Cell-based breast milk might offer mothers and babies a better alternative to expensive formula in the coming years. Alternative health ...
Sperm injections (ICSI) are all the rage at IVF clinics. Should couples trying to conceive consider them?
An expensive IVF technique, routinely offered in fertility clinics around the world, offers no extra benefits to standard IVF in ...
By 2030, nearly half of Americans will be classified as obese: From gene manipulation to lifestyle changes, here are rays of hope
Now that COVID-19 is winding down, perhaps it’s time to go back to trying to do something about our country’s ...
GLP podcast: Mexico’s activist-inspired glyphosate ban; Anti-GMO Twitter bots on the loose; Malaria vaccine coming soon?
Mexico seems determined to ban the weedkiller glyphosate and biotech crops, drawing intense opposition from the country's farmers. Twitter bots ...
Viewpoint: Dr. Joseph Mercola’s war on mainstream medicine — ‘His take on the pandemic is a lucrative conspiratorial dream’
Dr. Joe Mercola, an osteopathic physician who has made an impressive fortune selling supplements through his online store, has a ...
Maybe both sides are right: If SARS-CoV-2 was leaked from a Wuhan lab, it doesn’t mean the virus was necessarily engineered
The “lab leak” hypothesis about the origin of Covid-19 has been getting a lot of attention lately, and deservedly so ...
6 eyewitnesses identified a Texas man as a murderer. It took forensic DNA to prove they were wrong — sparking conversation on how to prevent ‘lineup bias’
On the strength of six eyewitnesses’ lineup identifications, Lydell Grant was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for the murder ...
GLP Podcast: Hollywood’s vaccine-autism nonsense; COVID lab-leak story won’t die; Africa ignores Greenpeace on pesticides
Many Hollywood celebrities have endorsed the bogus link between vaccines to autism. Looking back, it appears their influence has been ...
Viewpoint: Zantac BS—Sanofi’s marketing sleight-of-hand in ‘reformulating’ its Zantac acid-reducer deceives consumers
Back in 2019, I wrote about some of the tricks that drug companies use to hang onto brand name sales ...
Anti-biotechnology critics say the Genetic Literacy Project is a Monsanto-funded ‘corporate front’. It’s not true. Here is the documentation — and a review of the critics behind the disinformation
Activist groups opposed to agricultural biotechnology (GMOs and gene edited crops and animals) repeatedly claim that the Genetic Literacy Project ...
X-ray vision to peer into the rubble of collapsed buildings or check for booby traps? The science of the future is now
Within seconds after reaching a city, earthquakes can cause immense destruction: Houses crumble, high-rises turn to rubble, people and animals ...
