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.
The MAGA right’s weird obsession with the slur word ‘retard’
... [A] woman posted a photograph on social media of a purple hat she had knitted .... The cozy scene ...
Viewpoint: What happens if the AI bubble bursts? An anti-modernist skeptic makes his case
If some time in an entirely possible future they come to make a movie about “how the AI bubble burst”, ...
83 children died in Samoa after RFK, Jr. lobbying stopped measles vaccinations, and then he lied about it to Congress, emails show
Over two days of questioning during his Senate confirmation hearings last year, Robert F Kennedy Jr repeated the same answer. He said ...
Non-human animals and even bacteria are prone to spread misinformation
[In 2025], the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine issued a warning about the dangers of misinformation. Social media platforms are ...
Destructive peddlers of health misinformation: Social media influencers
Social media is awash with influencers vying for our attention so they can profit by selling their courses and hawking ...
Destructive peddlers of health misinformation: Disinformed experts
If you cast your mind back to COVID-19, there was a long line of medical professionals who cashed in during ...
Destructive peddlers of health misinformation: AI chatbots
A study published in the journal Urology examined the accuracy of ChatGPT in responding to questions about urology topics. They ...
Destructive peddlers of health misinformation: Culture wars
In 2019, a landmark paper, called EAT-Lancet, was published. It was written by tens of authors across multiple institutions. The purpose ...
Defeating death: ‘Vitalists’ seek to rebrand the longevity movement
[T]he Vitalist Bay Summit ... hosted various events to explore tools—from drug regulation to cryonics—that might be deployed in the ...
Selling human eggs: The black market is booming in India
Women selling their eggs illegally is an open secret in the Indian fertility industry. Even though the for-profit industry relies ...
Viewpoint—’Stunningly stupid’: RFK, Jr.’s measles non-existent measles containment policy
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. rambled through a long list of topics when he spoke at the White House during [a] ...
Can you Europe turn the tide against climate disinformation?
Climate disinformation is no longer just an obstacle to progress on climate action; it has become a geopolitical and security ...
Viewpoint: 6 bizarre science beliefs and how to address them
We often turn to successful people for advice. Bookstore shelves are heavy with tomes adorned with photos of rich luminaries ...
Viewpoint—‘I love the poorly educated’: Trump is disinvesting in science education and innovation
I love the poorly educated,” Donald Trump once declared. That was back in 2016, during his first presidential campaign. Now, a ...
Viewpoint: The potential dark side of the elitist movement to make the ‘best babies’ possible
There is growing concern that falling fertility rates will lead to economic and demographic catastrophe. The social and political movement ...
Why supplements are (almost always) a waste and often risky
Some people have vitamin or mineral deficiencies and rely on supplements to manage them, said Pieter Cohen, an internist at ...
Here’s why RFK, Jr.’s recommended Denmark’s vaccine policy is a lousy—and dangerous–model for the U.S.
... Antoine had no reason to think Isaac had anything more than a routine illness—until staff called an ambulance, for ...
One time weight-loss therapy? Gene therapy could revolutionize the GLP-1 industry, but challenges remain
A cardiologist by training, [Harith] Rajagopalan believes there’s a better way to harness the benefits of GLP-1 drugs: a gene ...
Dr. Google is being kicked to the curb. Welcome to AI. Will the diagnoses be any better?
For the past two decades, there’s been a clear first step for anyone who starts experiencing new medical symptoms: Look ...
RFK, Jr.’s Children Health Defense files racketeering suit against American Academy of Pediatrics claiming it endorses vaccines because it’s on-the-take from drug makers
Children’s Health Defense [CDC], the anti-vaccine advocacy group founded by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., has filed ...
Biological age craze: Are longevity tests and clinics a scam?
People are flocking to so-called longevity clinics and buying tests online to find out their “biological age”—a metric that some scientists say ...
Can power-voracious AI rely on nuclear energy?
Nuclear power has emerged as a strong candidate for companies looking to power data centers while cutting emissions. Unlike wind ...
Rejecting global science guidance, RFK, Jr.’s vaccine panel chair says polio shots should be optional
Dr. Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist who is chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, said that he did ...
Can AI revolutionize science research?
... OpenAI is making an explicit play for scientists. In October, the firm announced that it had launched a whole ...
Birth control can impair fertility? One of many women’s health myths
Women’s health is often surrounded by misinformation, much of it passed down through word of mouth or amplified online. Myth ...
The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming: AI is overwhelmed with Russian and anti-Western disinformation
A new paper, published in Science on [January 22, 2026] predicts an imminent step-change in how disinformation campaigns will be ...
14 million child study debunks RFK, Jr. and COVID vaccine rejectionists claim that vaccinations were more dangerous than the infection
Health misinformation remains one of Covid’s most damaging legacies, with online falsehoods fuelling vaccine hesitancy, sowing mistrust and eroding public ...
