Genetic Literacy Project
The increasingly bushy human family tree and five other paradigm-altering changes in our understanding of human evolution
From archaeological reconstructions of Neanderthals as stooped, hairy and brutish, to “cavemen” movies, our ancient ancestors got a bad press ...
Precautionary Politics: Europe Moves Backward into a Fear-Based ‘Dark Ages’ in Regulating Agriculture and Cancer Risks
David Zaruk, Founder of GreenFacts, Environmental-Health Risk Governance Analyst, Professor at Odisee University College | July 25, 2018 Highlights: The ...
Podcast: ‘Regenerative’ farming—a green fad; Gene-edited bacteria destroy tumors; Banana-flavored beer
So-called "regenerative" farming is gaining traction as a method of sustainable food production. Does it live up to the hype ...
Here is when and how humans attained ‘behavioral modernity’
For 200,000-300,000 years after Homo sapiens first appeared, tools and artefacts remained surprisingly simple, little better than Neanderthal technology, and simpler than ...
Viewpoint: Anti-GMO activists, from Organic Consumers Association to Joe Mercola to Vandana Shiva, formed an alliance. Why this is good news for biotech and science supporters
Alliances and networks is the new game plan among anti-GM activists. Recently, Organic Consumers Association [read GLP profile head Ronnie ...
Genetic basis of mental illness: Individual genetics and ‘racial’ ancestry impact mental illness, but most studies have focused only on white people
Mental illness is a growing public health problem. In 2019, an estimated 1 in 8 people around the world were affected ...
Oldest known human skeleton suggests humans began walking on two feet 7 million years ago in break from our ape-like common ancestors
The study of present-day species has delivered a clear verdict on humanity’s place in the living world: right alongside chimpanzees ...
Viewpoint: Why Washington should sharply increase funding for intensive agricultural to address climate change, spur sustainability
The 20th century was a time of massive changes in US agriculture. From farmers scraping a living out of the ...
Podcast: ‘Botched’ nutrition reporting; Alcohol abstinence boosts brain health; What causes acne?
Reporters continue to exaggerate the results of low-quality nutrition studies. Their desire to attract readers with dramatic headlines may be ...
Rethinking human enhancement: Is aging a disease?
In 1851, blacks throughout the US were reported to suffer from a disease called “drapetomania.” The symptoms—a white physician argued—were bouts ...
Here’s why humans grow two sets of teeth
You only get 52 teeth in your lifetime: 20 baby teeth, followed by 32 adult teeth. It’s not like that ...
Podcast: Science Facts and Fallacies host debates body positivity activists on ‘Dr. Phil’
Science Facts and Fallacies host Cameron English recently appeared on the Dr. Phil show to tackle an incendiary question: Has ...
Viewpoint: The still-shaky future of the alternative meat markets
People like the taste of meat and that alone explains why we have plant-based and other alternative forms of meat ...
Ideology and happiness: Who is more content with life, conservatives or liberals?
It may be one of the most surefire findings in all of social psychology, repeatedly replicated over almost five decades of study: ...
Viewpoint: Regenerative farming and Big Ag — Organic agriculture is no longer just ‘family farms’
According to our “friends” at the EWG, “American consumers spent a total of $20.4 billion on organic fruits and vegetables, ...
Podcast: Industry-funded GMO studies; Food companies back ‘regenerative’ farming; Popcorn-flavored spinach?
Should we be skeptical of GMO safety studies funded by biotech companies? Major food makers including Pepsi and Nestle have ...
‘Neanderthal Man’ — Nobel Prize winner Svante Pääbo revolutionized anthropology. Here is a look back at his groundbreaking 2014 memoir
Svante Pääbo's memoir of how he came to lead a project to sequence the Neanderthal genome— Neanderthal Man: In Search ...
Viewpoint: Count the distortions — Organic industry-funded Carey Gillam misrepresents science and court decision to further obsessive campaign against weedkiller glyphosate
f glyphosate is such a deadly pesticide, why do activist groups have to lie about it? That's the question I ...
Podcast: CRISPR Cas13 gene editing; Eye transplants; Sex might drive our athletic and artistic ability
A new gene-editing technique may be safer and more reliable than CRISPR-Cas9, according to a recent study ...
Viewpoint: Synthetic fertilizers in ideological crosshairs — Trade-offs between crop productivity and the environment
Want to fight climate change right now? Need to meet short-term targets for reductions in greenhouse gases? Then restrict applications of ...
How Africa’s genetic diversity can be harnessed to close the continent’s ‘drug and treatment gap’
“I have begged to just die.” Those were the words of Sadeh Sophia, a sickle cell disease patient. Although living ...
4 in ten Americans are obese. Producers need to harness biotechnology to make spinach as tasty as popcorn
Nutritionists are trying to get us to eat healthier, particularly to lose weight or maintain it after having lost it ...
Podcast: Biden’s pro-biotech executive order; Vaccine mandates backfire; Courts v junk science
President Biden just signed an executive order promising substantial investment in the "bioeconomy." What impact will the proposal have on ...
With the first synthetic embryo nearing reality, what are the ethical ramifications?
In what’s reported as a world-first achievement, biologists have grown mouse embryo models in the lab without the need for ...
Differentiating between COVID misinformation and evolving science
With the announcement by Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control, that “The CDC has to ...
Could there ever be a vaccine for breast cancer?
Triple-negative breast cancer, about 10% of all breast cancers, is one of the most aggressive and deadliest forms of this ...
Everyone wants ‘sustainable farming’ but defining a land use strategy that balances competing environmental and production goals is tricky
Faced with global food security concerns and soaring food and energy price inflation, the UK Government seems to have woken ...
Podcast: Exercise builds gut health; US blocking COVID origins investigation? ‘Natural’ food is a scam
Keeping the microbes living in your gut healthy is important to your overall well-being, and recent research suggests that regular ...
