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
GLP podcast: Tylenol maker refuted link to autism. Daily Caller’s fabricated health scare, exposed
Late last month, Daily Caller published a bombshell report claiming that Johnson & Johnson, the former manufacturer of Tylenol (acetaminophen), ...
Adult virgins: Why are some people sexless?
Sex is important. Romantic, typically sexual, partnerships are often among the most central relationships in individuals’ lives, providing a host of ...
The radical conservative case for genetic enhancement
The conclusion of the sexual revolution is about to be written ...
Viewpoint: Got milk? Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. drinks the raw, unpasteurized version. Does he know something about its benefits that scientists don’t?
Honestly, I can’t believe I need to repeat this in 2025. Raw milk sales have been soaring since early last ...
GLP podcast: Media keeps hyping the youth cancer ‘epidemic.’ Problem? It’s a myth
Buoyed by sensationalist reporters eager to write alarming headlines, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly hyped a dramatic "epidemic" of ...
Viewpoint: RFK, Jr. needs an update on Biology 101. Let’s start
The only requirement for assuming the position of US Secretary for Health and Human Services is being picked by the ...
Viewpoint: Political paradox—why Trump’s budget plan ending carbon capture could lower climate-polluting emissions
The U.S. Department of Energy’s decision to claw back US$3.7 billion in grants from industrial demonstration projects may create an ...
Viewpoint: Trump and RFK, Jr. are wrong: ‘Our study of 2.5 million children shows acetaminophen not linked to autism’
United States President Donald Trump recently claimed that using the common painkiller acetaminophen (also known as paracetamol and by the ...
Making Lawyers Wealthy Again: RFK, Jr., Tylenol, and torts
On Monday, September 22, 2025, President Trump led a press conference in the Roosevelt Room of the White House following a press release on ...
What is ‘genetic nurture’ and how does it impact educational achievement?
The phrase “Look down your nose” comes from a time when aristocrats were taller than commoners due to their superior ...
Viewpoint: RFK, Jr.’s ‘batshit crazy health conspiracy theories’
[The] Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission released their second report: The MAHA Strategy. It aims to focus the United States ...
Viewpoint: Tylenol and the pseudoscience litigation playbook: Here’s how tort lawyer RFK, Jr. consorts with ambulance-chasing lawyers to shake-down companies making a safe and necessary product
Donald Trump held a lengthy press release where he spewed a lot of disinformation and gave dangerous medical advice. He ...
Viewpoint: Science be damned—RFK, Jr. has his mind made up about the causes of autism
In the seven months since he was sworn in as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), ...
Viewpoint: RFK. Jr.’s MAHA ‘Health Freedom” movement is a singular health threat
"Health freedom” sounds so American – until you realize it’s been hijacked by RFK Jr. and MAHA to replace science ...
Understanding why people reject science could lead to solutions for rebuilding trust
Why are so many people anti-science? As experts on attitudes, persuasion and how humans are impacted by scientific innovations, our ...
Viewpoint: Why vaccine mandates are critical for public health
Vaccines are one of the most effective and life-saving scientific technologies in modern medicine. They save lives, prevent suffering, and ...
Vaccines, politics, and the fragile future of public health
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s reshaped federal vaccine panel is expected to vote this week to ...
63% of Americans drink fluoridated water. Here’s a science breakdown of its benefits and hazards
Debates are hitting headlines as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voices new concerns about fluoride in public water systems. But what does the ...
Viewpoint: Media tout alleged ‘danger’ of homeopathic levels of plastic. That’s scaremongering
Homeopathic levels of plastic are the latest environmental scaremongering fad (Nanoplastics! Microplastics!) dominating partisan corporate media when they are not ...
Natural selection, artificial selection, and now political selection: Vaccine rejectionism is altering the course of evolution, and not in a good way
“A sharp partisan divide remains over new Covid boosters,” reads the headline announcing a recent poll from Politico, as respiratory ...
The Science vs. MAHA battle that’s now unfolding at the CDC
Public health and access to lifesaving vaccines are on the line in a high-stakes leadership battle at the Centers for ...
GLP podcast: ‘Fight fire with fire.’ How one science advocate converts vaccine skeptics
Many scientists treat the anti-vaccine movement as a collection of lepers—a group of malcontents to be ignored and ostracized in ...
From plastic coasters to human hearts: Inside the race to print the human body
Fifteen years ago, 3‑D printing was heralded as the technology that would revolutionize manufacturing, democratizing production and allowing anyone with ...
Viewpoint — Fact checking MAHA mythmakers: How wellness influencers undermine American science and health
After RFK Jr’s attack on mRNA vaccine technology research programs last week, I had big plans of multiple articles I ...
Confronting the elephant in the human biodiversity room — the explosive issue of IQ
Here’s a thought experiment. Imagine two widely separated human groups living for thousands of years in different cultural and ecological ...
The lingering pandemic: The chronic toll of untreatable long COVID
COVID-19 has not disappeared. According to the most recent weekly update from the CDC, wastewater levels of SARS-CoV-2, the virus ...
GLP spaces on X: Psychedelics—groundbreaking depression therapies or dangerous drugs?
The number of Americans suffering from depression continues to follow an alarming trend. In 2023, roughly 47 million people reported ...
