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 sunscreen bad for your health? MAHA and social media disinformation threatens a resurgence in skin cancer
Sunscreen protects the skin by either absorbing or reflecting ultraviolet rays that can cause sunburn, premature aging and skin cancer ...
Implantable brain technology: ALS patient is first to control iPad by thought
A patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has become the first person in the world to control an iPad entirely ...
‘Scared …less’: Chemophobic ‘precautionary principle’ undermines science of food and health, and MAHA makes it worse
These days, the average American consumer … is scared $#!+less. Just about everywhere you turn there’s a health guru or ...
Viewpoint: Truth Social rolled out an AI Chatbot that relies mostly on rightwing misinformation purveyors
When I ask the new Truth Social AI chatbot about navigating bias in the media ecosystem, it gives what I view as pretty ...
Viewpoint: The social justice corruption of medicine
Today, social justice imperatives are deeply entrenched in the medical profession. As a close observer of such trends, I have ...
How humans (and apes) evolved to love alcohol
Humans and some other great apes share an unusual adaptation: They can metabolize ethyl alcohol – the intoxicating ingredient in ...
Why women are more prone to Alzheimer’s than men
More women get diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease than men. In developed countries, studies suggest about two-thirds of people with Alzheimer's are women. It's ...
Podcast: The race to build a viable brain-computer implant and why they are revolutionary
Brain-computer interfaces might have inspired works of science fiction, but the technology behind them is real and quickly developing. Companies ...
How a devout Muslim creationist missionary became an avowed evolutionist
Guiding us on the epic, mind-expanding journey is paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi, who has undergone her own radical evolution. As a ...
Nuclear concerns: What are the dangers as AI gets baked into our nuclear arsenal
The people who study nuclear war for a living are certain that artificial intelligence will soon power the deadly weapons. None of them ...
Genetics of stuttering: Early interventions could help as many as 400 million people worldwide
A global study has identified the DNA markers for stuttering, providing a genetic link that will pave the way for ...
Tripping your way to better mental health?
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST: [I]t seemed like there might finally be an opening for psychedelics to become a part of the ...
Why are detectable rates of autism soaring in the U.S. but holding steady in other countries with a history of far better screening? It’s not vaccines or chemicals but ‘diagnosis inflation’
Almost every week, it seems, we read news of some new epidemic — medical, psychological, social. Taken together, these alarming ...
Viewpoint: Failing RFK, Jr.’s science undermines U.S. innovation and opens the door to Chinese dominance
Since Dr. Vinay Prasad’s appointment as a key political voice within FDA, the tone of U.S. biotech policy has shifted from enabling ...
Viewpoint: What’s the long-term impact of Trump’s attacks on universities
“I have not experienced, across 46 years of higher education, a period where there’s been this much distance” between the ...
‘Feel Free’: People getting addicted to this addictive ‘botanical’ supplement drink with kava root and kratom, and regulators are doing nothing
Feel Free’s most well-known variant — the “Classic” tonic made by the company Botanic Tonics, which also makes a “Kava ...
Viewpoint: RFK Jr.’s FDA fake review of fluoride supplements with already announced plan to ban them is terrible science
Extensively studied over decades, fluoride has been scientifically validated for its effectiveness in reducing dental cavities, particularly in children. It ...
Early life trauma can ‘program’ children’s brains for a life of aggression
Aggression isn’t just a behavioral issue—it has deep neurobiological roots, especially when shaped by early-life trauma. New research is investigating ...
Viewpoint: If 23andMe has your DNA, don’t panic, your privacy is not in danger
As word spread last year that 23andMe was about to go bankrupt, many of their millions of customers wondered if ...
As recently as 40,000 years ago, as many as 5 ancient human species lived alongside us. Only we survived
We may be the only human species alive today, but just a few hundred thousand years ago there was a ...
From reassurance to rollbacks, RFK Jr.’s first months on vaccine policy
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised before his confirmation that he would not take away Americans’ vaccines. But ...
CRISPR takes on the challenge of rare genetic diseases
Rare genetic diseases are challenging for patients and their families—made all the more overwhelming because symptoms tend to appear soon ...
Kennedy poised to dismantle U.S.-supported system of evidence-based medicine and mental health wellness
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent takeover of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee was alarming enough. Now ...
When does aging begin to accelerate? Earlier than most people think
A groundbreaking new study has revealed that your body doesn’t age in a straight line. Instead, it hits a sudden ...
Rfk, Jr. guts U.S. support for mRNA vaccines that target bird flu, human flu and coronaviruses, falsely claiming they are dangerous despite decades of safe use
The US is making swingeing mRNA development cuts, hugely deprioritising a Nobel Prize-winning field of research widely lauded for its ...
Viewpoint: As Earth’s temperatures reach record and accelerating highs, EPA rejects the science
“There is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate. Human activity is the principal cause.” Those two ...
Keeping your brain young and slowing cognitive decline as you age
Scientists have unveiled the strongest evidence yet that a combination of diet, exercise and brain training can improve thinking and ...
