Genetic Literacy Project
Viewpoint: Kennedy moves to close Big Food’s GRAS loophole—but will politically-protected Prevagen and Big Supplement slip through another?
With great fanfare, Secretary Kennedy announced the closing of the GRAS (“Generally Recognized As Safe”) loophole. But separating the rhetoric ...
Viewpoint: Will Trump’s politicization of science undermine U.S. Nobel-level research?
This story was originally published by ProPublica. For decades, physicists wrestled with a fundamental mystery of the universe. They wanted ...
AI data-center controversy: The ocean may solve the political and resource challenges—or simply relocate the environmental costs
The artificial intelligence boom is driving unprecedented demand for data centers, raising concerns about their growing energy consumption, water use ...
FDA-approved mRNA flu vaccine signals future for RNA therapeutics
Vaccines have been reliably and affordably protecting people from diseases worldwide for centuries. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, however, vaccine development was ...
What’s the political and health battle over GRAS–ingredients ‘Generally Recognized as Safe’
Behind every significant advance in US food safety lies a public health disaster that forced Congress to act. A regulatory ...
GMO food scares and organic myths stall Africa’s embrace of agricultural technology and food security
Across Africa, conversations about food are becoming increasingly intertwined with conversations about science as stakeholders across the value chain work ...
Viewpoint: RFK, Jr.’s hand-picked FDA panel of physician grifters legitimizes the ‘cure-all’ peptides craze
A booming wellness market has formed around peptides—mini-proteins that affect various processes inside the body. They help regulate hunger, blood ...
Gene editing’s next frontier: Farm animals
Agriculture has always evolved through better tools. From selective breeding and artificial insemination to precision nutrition and modern biosecurity, producers ...
Fake AI celebrity endorsements of quack wellness cures are surging among the elderly
Paris Hilton’s mother Kathy recently tried the “Jell-O diet” to lose weight. She believed other celebrities – Oprah Winfrey, Doctor ...
Viewpoint: Organic food costs more—but is it healthier, safer, and more nutritious? The latest science findings may surprise you.
Few symbols on food labels evoke such an immediate sense of health as the “organic seal.” Its promise of "natural" ...
Trojan fly: Gene-edited living insecticides could help farmers spray less
On June 3, a three-week-old calf in Zavala County, Texas, was found with fly larvae feeding on a wound. While ...
From breakthrough to business: The challenging work of scaling gene-edited food for the public
When CRISPR technology first hit the scene in 2012, many saw its promise in tackling stubborn genetic diseases in humans ...
AI vs AI: Can artificial intelligence contain the fake news epidemic that it has helped unleash?
Artificial intelligence doesn’t have a great reputation for veracity. Social media abounds with AI-generated concoctions, from cute images of fake animals in ...
When anecdotes become medical advice: No, ADHD cannot be managed with supplements
If social media is to be believed, ADHD can be managed with supplements, breathing exercises, herbal remedies, and just about ...
Activists vs. Scientists: Could “Butterfly Effect” fears derail gene-drive research targeting the flesh-eating screwworm?
The United States once defeated a ravenous, parasitic fly with mass releases of sterile insects. A genetically engineered strain could ...
The COVID vaccine turbo cancer scare is back. Science still proves it’s wrong.
A viral claim has been resuscitated. You may have seen it early in the COVID vaccine days: the claim that ...
Viewpoint: Is geo-engineering the ‘break glass in case of emergency’ solution to uncontrollable climate change—or manufactured fear
It’s easy to forget today, as more and more people have come to take the idea of solar geoengineering seriously, ...
Viewpoint—Propaganda parrots: Challenging MAHA claims that scientists and health experts are disinformation-spreaders
By now you’ve probably seen the clips. On the morning [of August 2, 2026], Secretary Kennedy went on CNN’s State of ...
Europe’s embrace of sustainable gene-edited crops is accelerating
To reach the experimental maize field, visitors first pass through a locked gate tucked between a railway line, a motorway ...
Viewpoint—Synthetic influencers and ‘deep fake’ doctors: How AI generates fake experts
Artificial intelligence is transforming how millions of Americans get health advice, flooding platforms like YouTube and TikTok with slick, on-demand ...
Viewpoint: How the $6.8 billion wellness industry spins tales of deception
The global wellness industry sells itself as the future of health, happiness, and longevity—but first, what exactly is "wellness"? The ...
41-state Cyclospora outbreak exposes widespread state-to-state communication failures
The response to the current large outbreak of food-related illnesses caused by a microscopic parasite is a communications failure, not ...
Viewpoint—A hard look at the Fauci diaries: Do they change what we know about COVID’s origins?
Recently released diaries of Dr. Anthony Fauci reveal significant gaps between what senior scientists and officials said privately about COVID-19 ...
Viewpoint: How disease tracking and prevention has cratered under the Kennedy-Trump administration
Public health relies on data – whether it is tracking the effectiveness of a given year’s flu vaccine, monitoring blood ...
Consumer skepticism about gene-edited milk is neither fixed nor particularly high—and falls even more if it’s priced lower
As temperatures rise, New Zealand’s dairy farmers face a growing challenge: keeping cows cool enough to remain productive. Heat stress ...
The retreat of environmental extremism: Why activist NGOs are losing favor
During the American heat dome or Europe’s summer swelter and the hottest June days on record, we no longer have ...
Viewpoint: What does it mean when critics of conventional agriculture say many fruits and vegetables are “linked” to pesticide poisoning?
“Our job here at Psy Ops is to panic the enemy, to blunt his will to fight. A Psy Operator ...
Viewpoint: Is there new evidence that the animal deworming drug ivermectin decreases the risk of Covid and cancer? Don’t waste your money.
Though researchers have been studying the animal deworming drug ivermectin for decades, there is no evidence that it’s a safe or effective way to ...
