Daily Human Digest
Every day, the staff of the Genetic Literacy Project scours the Web for stories on a range of human genetics issues, including gene editing, regulations and bioethics, gene therapy, epigenetics, personal genomics, evolution, ancestry and artificial intelligence. We publish excerpts of those stories and encourage our readers to visit the original publications for the complete stories.
Is cellular reprogramming junk science? Nearly 20 patients are getting eye injections in the first FDA-cleared cellular trial
It's a pivotal moment for longevity science, the first opportunity for researchers to prove that epigenetic reprogramming — a technique ...
Why the human genome is less a script than a puzzle
It’s now clear that understanding the human genome is no longer a matter of figuring out what each gene does ...
Leading OB-GYN group challenges RFK, Jr. gutting of maternal vaccine schedule
The leading professional organization for obstetricians and gynecologists in the US has launched its first maternal vaccination schedule and diverged ...
No, Bill Gates did not secretly engineer ticks to promote veganism
"WEAPONIZED TICKS ARE HERE -- AND IT'S NO ACCIDENT! Genetically modified ticks are exploding across America, triggering Alpha-Gal Syndrome," claims a May ...
Viewpoint: Trump’s Reflecting Pool algae fiasco points to a bigger culprit: Climate change
In his battle to clean the murky waters of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, President Donald Trump has tried draining, painting, hydrogen ...
Hegseth reversal: As Air Force flu outbreak continues to surge, military reinstitutes mandatory vaccines for recruits
A flu outbreak at the Air Force's basic training hub in San Antonio is worsening, according to two sources familiar ...
Desperate patients of autistic children paying up to $20,000 for bogus stem cell injections recommended by RFK, Jr.
Autistic children as young as 18 months old are being injected with human stem cells derived from umbilical cords in ...
After Mel Gibson’s Joe Rogan comments, grifters promoting ivermectin, without evidence, as a hantavirus preventive
"Hantavirus is a RNA virus, and ivermectin should work against it," claims a May 6, 2026 post on X from Mary Talley ...
AI’s promotion of ‘fake news’ erodes everyday thinking, MIT study reveals
Yet another study shows that the more you let artificial intelligence do the thinking for you, the less capable you ...
Viewpoint: RFK, Jr. ignores oversight of vast HHS programs to focus on his pet obsessions—and gets much of the science wrong
Mr. Kennedy has shown little interest in managing the details of work in his department, according to multiple colleagues. Instead, ...
Trump and climate change skeptics misrepresent updated climate-emissions scenarios to claim projections were bogus
In a May 16 Truth Social post, President Donald Trump cited updated climate change scenarios to misleadingly claim that experts ...
Anti-vaxxers falsely claim chronic disease study of 22 diseases ‘proves’ that vaccinated children are sicker than the unvaccinated
The analysis is based on a 2020 draft study that was never published because an internal review identified "serious flaws ...
‘Plasticity’: Can psilocybin support healthy aging by transforming the brains of older adults?
The study, known as PLASTICITY (Psychedelic Longitudinal Aging Study In Cognitively Healthy Older Adults), is the first psychedelic neuroimaging study specifically ...
Treat measles with cod liver oil and vitamin A? RFK, Jr.’s recommendation has led to a surge in poisonings
Vitamin A became a highly searched topic around the time Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted ...
Trump administration pushes to bring AI “doctors” into U.S. healthcare. The promise — and the risks.
Today, chatbots can only legally offer medical guidance with a disclaimer attached: Neither the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, nor ...
Viewpoint: The booming longevity anti-aging skin care hoax
Historically, anti-aging has been rooted in prevention (think sunscreen or retinoids for wrinkles), not instant results. ... Driven by the broader ...
Texas Air Force base flu outbreak soars to over 220 cases, and one soldier has died after Secretary Hegseth scrapped mandatory military flu shots
In a new social media post, a U.S. Congressman is demanding answers about what led to a major flu outbreak ...
Viewpoint: How the Trump administration is thwarting the will of Congress and starving American science
Although research has bipartisan support in the US Congress, and trust in science is above 75% across the country, the ...
The American Medical Association doctors declare war on RFK, Jr.’s attack on safe vaccines
At the American Medical Association’s annual meeting ..., members of the group’s House of Delegates are sending a clear message ...
COVID lab leak? Making a case that the Wuhan market origins theory is wrong
It is imperative that those of us who support and defend biotechnology confront the strong possibility that a foolish and ...
Viewpoint—Protecting baloney science: Far right senators move to protect the phony homeopathy industry
Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Tommy Tuberville (R- AL) have recently introduced a bill that would limit the FDA’s ability ...
Can illegal social media content be stopped before it goes viral? UK is going to try.
Social media companies have been ordered to have emergency measures in place to stop illegal content going viral, as regulators ...
Activist organization accuses Trump of protecting methane-generating stripper wells to benefit billionaire and donor Jeffrey Hildebrand
This story was originally published by ProPublica. It was before dawn on a Friday in January when a Gulfstream G600 ...
Viewpoint—Recursive self-improvement: AI leader Anthropic calls for AI slowdown
For most of AI’s history, humans drove every step in its development cycle. But at Anthropic, we are delegating a ...
What’s behind Anthropic’s warning about the accelerating development of AI
Recursive self-improvement is when an AI system designs, builds, and trains a better version of itself without humans involved. Put ...
Trump-appointed cancer panel head backed by supplement and anti-vaccine companies promotes discredited support for ivermectin as a potential cure
The chair of the President’s Cancer Panel is a co-author on a new paper promoting ivermectin as a cancer treatment ...
In a rebuke to RFK, Jr.’s anti-vax crusade, journal retracts study claiming hepatitis B vaccine–autism link
A 2010 paper that linked the hepatitis B vaccine in infant boys to an increased risk of autism diagnosis was ...
