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.
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 ...
Kennedy accused of trying to ‘bully’ science journal that retracted study linking vaccines to infant deaths
Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, is demanding answers from a medical journal that recently removed a paper ...
Who’s responsible when AI lies? Google challenging court ruling that search results are not protected from legal liability
Google said it will appeal a German court ruling that holds the company directly liable for false statements produced by ...
Viewpoint: “Dead Wrong”—Understanding healthcare’s misinformation epidemic
Misinformation in healthcare isn’t slowing down, and Dr. Geeta Nayyar says it’s causing more problems. Nayyar is the author of ...
Glucosamine alert: Alzheimer’s progresses faster among those taking the popular supplement
Glucosamine -- a popular supplement used for joint pain -- was associated with faster progression to Alzheimer's disease and worse ...
Viewpoint: ‘Steroid Olympics’ marketing stunt: ‘It seemed less like a sporting event and more like a loss leader to peddle testosterone injections, GLP-1s, and peptides’
Testosterone. Methenolone. Nandrolone. Human growth hormone and EPO. Meldonium, modafinil, and mixed amphetamine salts. Clomiphene, anastrozole, levothyroxine, and liothyronine. Patches ...
Physician warns online statin myths delay care and raise heart risk
During a presentation titled “Misunderstandings and truth about statins: From cardiovascular disease prevention to renal safety,” [Dr. Jang Min-wook] said ...
‘Humanitarian catastrophe’: Trump’s USAID shutdown could help drive nearly 23 million deaths — including 5.4 million children — by 2030, Lancet study warns
Nearly 23 million additional deaths are expected by 2030 as a result of countries like the US and UK dramatically ...
Viewpoint: COVID lab leak? Misguided backers of the lab leak theory refuse to give up
[W]hen I learned that Lord Matt Ridley had been invited to speak at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) about ...
Six key health insights from taking weight-loss drugs
Tens of millions of people around the world are now taking drugs like Ozempic — a kind of real-time experiment ...
‘Have you asked your doctor?’: AMA launches campaign to counter health misinformation
The American Medical Association confirmed plans to launch a national campaign to combat health misinformation and “rebuild trust in medicine.” ...
Selective Pressure, Selective Silence
Human evolution, particularly of the brain, ended a long time ago—at least that is what many educated people, wary of ...
Will hi-tech genetic fortune-telling really help parents make healthier children?
Like high-tech fortune-telling, the screening estimates the chances that embryos will produce children at risk for thousands of illnesses, from ...
‘Toxin’ detox: A gastroenterologist weighs in on $71 billion health trend
In 2025, the detoxification industry worldwide was valued at over $71 billion, and some estimates have that number approaching $120 ...
