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.
Kindergarten vaccine exemptions hit record high as Trump’s order squeezes school mandates
American kindergartners are skipping their shots at a record pace, CNN reporter Deidre McPhillips found, and the White House just ...
Three weird ‘gut hacks’ currently coursing through social media that don’t work–and could be dangerous
Scroll through gut-health content on TikTok and you'll find parasite cleanses, colon flushes, and a ritual glass of hot water ...
Elderly are increasingly befuddled by mass-produced AI health videos
A 68-year-old man in Gumi, South Korea, took a YouTube "doctor" at his word: "200g of blueberries has the same ...
Fact check: COVID vaccines are not linked to miscarriages
A viral claim that COVID-19 vaccines cause an 82 percent miscarriage rate exploded across social media and Congress this month, ...
Viewpoint: Will RFK, Jr.-led MAHA voters swing the midterm elections toward like-minded Republicans?
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Make America Healthy Again movement will be a decisive ...
PTSD cure? U.S. military is testing treatments for soldiers so they can fight longer
The U.S. Department of Defense is funding two studies testing whether MDMA-assisted therapy can treat PTSD in active-duty soldiers so ...
Creepy and cool ways cloning may be used on animals and humans
Cloning is having a moment, and not for the reason you'd guess. A new piece from MIT Technology Review, by senior ...
‘The cure for measles is chicken soup and vitamin A’: Kennedy’s dangerous history of mocking vaccines
In 2021, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stood on a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, farm and told 1,500 Amish attendees that health ...
Testosterone therapy is having a moment. The science hasn’t caught up.
The Pentagon is preparing to screen service members for low testosterone. The Trump administration wants the FDA to loosen who ...
Viewpoint: CDC website is wrong. Yet another study shows MMR vaccines do not cause autism
A new study of more than 2.5 million children has delivered the same verdict researchers have reached for over two ...
The emerging Republican campaign to ban human-AI marriages
As reported by Jason Parham for WIRED, a small but growing number of Americans don't just chat with their AI companions—they ...
Viewpoint: The global implications of Trump’s misguided vaccine policy
President Trump signed an executive order on August 10, 2026, that could turn getting your kid vaccinated into a multi-visit ...
Ivermectin, mebendazole and fenbendazole join a long historical list of pseudoscientific cancer cures
... If you search “cancer treatments” on Facebook (one of the first prompts that appear if you type “cancer” into ...
Backlash against AI data centers is a flashpoint in midterm elections
Data centers have quietly become the most contentious infrastructure fight in America, and the opposition is borrowing its playbook straight ...
Debunking another RFK Jr. autism myth: No, circumcision cannot cause autism
A study of U.S. children found no evidence linking neonatal male circumcision with autism spectrum disorder, prospective data from the ...
‘No causal link between COVID vaccines and excess deaths’: Study at the heart of anti-vaccine hysteria retracted
A high-profile study claiming COVID-19 vaccines contributed to excess deaths across dozens of countries has been retracted by BMJ Public ...
Disinformation tracker maps declining confidence in science and public health
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, false claims about “US-run biolabs” began circulating almost immediately through Russian state ...
‘Dangerous’: As measles cases reach a 30-year high, American Academy of Pediatrics blasts Trump/RFK Jr. vaccine order
The president of the American Academy of Pediatrics blasted President Trump’s ... executive order calling for fewer childhood vaccines. “As measles cases reach a ...
‘Sick Tok’: Viral social media videos push medical misinformation
Medical professionals across the globe are sounding the alarm over a dangerous explosion of health misinformation propagating on short-form video ...
Challenging common wisdom: Social media doesn’t much change what you believe
For years, social media companies have faced pressure from users and government watchdogs to stop misinformation from distorting elections, deepening ...
How RFK, Jr. and his family could rake in millions from vaccine tort cases
In a letter dated July 28 [2026], Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Angela Alsobrooks (Md.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and Andy Kim ...
Viewpoint: Mel Gibson’s goofy endorsement of ivermectin as a cancer cure worries responsible physicians
The buzz started after actor Mel Gibson went on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast and said that his friends with ...
First viruses designed by AI raise hope for new medicines. What could go wrong?
Scientists have made the first viruses designed by artificial intelligence in a milestone that raises hopes for new medicines but ...
Viewpoint: RFK Jr.’s new cooking show is a bouillabaisse of misinformation
... The Real Food Show, featuring Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, premiered on YouTube to promote the ...
Death by mutation: Attempts to extend life will eventually hit the brick wall of accumulating damaged cells
A new paper investigates how the slow accumulation of certain mutations in DNA affects human life span. Called somatic mutations, ...
Viewpoint: From COVID lifeline to accused criminal—the bizarre story of how Stephen Miller’s pregnant wife turned on Anthony Fauci
Katie Miller, an erstwhile Trump administration official and wife of Stephen Miller, once relied on Dr Anthony Fauci to get through Covid ...
Misinformation vs Disinformation: Your guide through the increasingly wacky and dangerous world of social media
You may be familiar with the concept of health misinformation: conspiracy theories, well-intentioned advice not backed by science, or common misconceptions ...
